


Inheriting Trouble

by mitchy21



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 15:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4065463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitchy21/pseuds/mitchy21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My first story. Machelle's best friend is murdered and leaves her something that someone wants and will kill for. Will his friends help her find this killer ?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Machelle sat in the car that was driving her to meet a man she had never met but, always dreamed of meeting. Beside her was her best friends dog El Torrito. As she looked out the window she thought back to the horrible week that she had. Her best friend Jamie had been murdered for his shares in a company and now those shares along with the knowlege that she to could be in danger of being killed. She was on her way to talk to the chairman of the board Vince McMahon. The shares were in the WWE.  
As they pulled up to the WWE headquarters Machelle started to think on how to tell Mr. McMahon that she didn't want the shares, that all she wanted was to get the killer who murdered her best friend. She had an idea who it was, but couldn't prove it and needed Vince's and Jamie's other friends in the WWE to help. All she had was a video of the crime, and she needed their help to identify who the murderer was.  
She walked into the headquarters of WWE and young lady asked if she had an appointment. Before she could respond Machelle felt a hand on her shoulder. she turned around to see Triple H .  
He gave her a hug. "I'm glad you showed up."  
She had met him two weeks prior at a BBQ at Jamie's house. That's where she had met some of Jamie's friends, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose and others. Jamie had asked them to look after her because he had a feeling that he could be in deep. Now it was Machelle that would be in danger all because of the shares she had in a company.  
As Triple H escorted her to the boardroom she saw that Dean was already there. He stood up and gave her a hug. "Hey, Machelle," he said.  
They started talking about what had happened and why Jamie was a target. Machelle explained that the lawyer had said Jamie had changed his will leaving Machelle his shares in WWE and some contracts of some of the Superstars that were employed with the WWE.  
Triple H was worried that she wanted money. As Machelle was explaining to him that, that was not the case Mr. McMahon came in. As they were sitting down, Machelle handed him a letter. Vince opened it and sees its from a lawyer saying she didn't want his money the shares were his not Machelle's. As far as she was concerned the WWE was a McMahon legacy.  
Vince smiled and asked her, "Are you sure you want me to have this?"  
Machelle smiled. "Yes. I just want two things from you."  
"Of course," he said, "if i can, I will help. What do you want then?"  
Machelle walked over to her bag, removed her computer and booted it up. "I just need to know if you know who this is," she asked, as she pressed play.  
Dean's eyes lit up. He stood up and said, "That looks like Jeremy Mains! That Was Jamie's friend from years ago!"  
Machelle stood up and asked, "Are you sure?"  
"Yes," Dean said, "if you want to know for sure ask Roman he used to hang with them!" Dean pulled out his phone and called Roman, who agreed to come down to headquarters.  
As they waited for Roman to arrive, Machelle called the detective that was in charge of Jamie's murder and asked him if he would come down as well.  
Roman made it to headquarters in less than half an hour. Detective Orton arrived ten minutes later, just as Roman was confirming that the person on the tape was indeed, Jeremy Mains.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was late when Machelle got to Jamie's house. She pulled into the driveway and was about to get out of her car when her cell went off. It was Dean, he and Roman were together. As she answered it she saw that the front door of the house was ajar. El Torrito started to growl very low. She told Dean.  
"Stay in the car," Dean ordered her. "We're on our way and we're calling the police. Do not go in there."  
15 minutes later Dean and Roman arrived to find police cars in the driveway. At first the police wouldn't let them into the house, but detective Orton, recognizing them from the meeting at the WWE headquarters, gave permission for them to enter. They both ran over to Machelle who was standing with El Torrito by her car. Who was starting to panic, feeling she had no where to go that was safe.  
"You can stay with us," Roman and Dean said in unison. Then, Dean added, "We're sharing a hotel room, we have room for you."  
"All right," Machelle said, "But only for a few days at the most, I don't want anything to happen to either of you."  
Dean updated the detective on where Machelle would be while Roman tried to calm her down.  
"How could Jamie do this to me?" Machelle kept asking over and over. "How could he leave me in danger like this?"  
Roman just hugged her. "I'm guessing Jamie had a good sense of character. After all, who wouldn't want these shares to exploit the McMahan's for their fortune."  
"Apparently, someone does," Machelle said, looking around in dismay. "Enough to break into the house."  
"Speaking of the McMahon's," Roman said, his curiosity getting the better of him, "I saw you hand Vince an envelope. If it's not too personal, can I ask what was in it?"  
"It was the shares," Machelle told him, "and a letter telling Vince that while the shares were in her name, she was giving them to him and documenting it. Apparently, Jamie had an idea that this Jeremy person would be coming for the shares."  
Just as Roman was going to ask another question Dean and the detective came over to talk to them. Dean looked more than a little concerned and upset, apparently the talk with Detective Orton had done a lot to concern him. Roman and Machelle soon found out why Dean was so upset, as the detective told them he had looked up this Jeremy guy, and what he had found out wasn't very pleasant. Jeremy had a long police record for exploiting people, assault and battery, using fake ID, and armed robbery; He was a very dangerous person.  
"This is great," Machelle said, the panic rising again in her voice. "This is just great." She ran her fingers through her hair, nervously tugging at it.  
Dean and Roman tried their best to calm her down. At first Machelle would have none of it, she was terrified, scared, and really had no idea of what best to do. Finally, Roman suggested the three of them should get something to eat. At first she disagreed, afraid she would be unable to keep down anything, but both Dean and Roman persisted, telling her she had to keep her strength up. When she still tried to argue, Roman quietly argued that Jamie would want her to eat, want her to be strong for the fight ahead.  
"Not fair, Roman," Machelle muttered, not sure if she should be grateful or furious at the tall, dark haired man.  
"Fair?" Roman repeated. "No. But truthful, and you know it. Let's go get something at Denny's."  
"I'm afraid I'll throw it up," she said, giving one last, feeble argument.  
"Then just get some soup and crackers," Dean said, knowing he and Roman had won this battle. "People are always able to keep down soup and crackers. That's why they give them to sick people. And ginger-ale, too. We'll order you soup, crackers, and ginger-ale."  
"Maybe some tea, too?" Roman joined in. "My mom gave me tea when I was sick."  
"Tea is for colds," Dean disagreed. "Ginger-ale is for when you feel you're going to vomit."  
"I think she gave me tea for a stomach virus at least once," Roman said thoughtfully. "Or, the flu."  
Machelle had to smile at the two men arguing the merits of certain beverages for certain medical conditions. "All right, all right," she said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. "You win. Just let me pack a few things and we'll go get something to eat."  
"That's our girl," Roman said, as the three of them headed to her bedroom.  
Machelle knew better than to argue, they were worried for her and would not leave her side, especially while she was in the house. But fortunately, she wasn't one of those women who needed hours to pack. She found a small suitcase and put in enough clothes and toiletries for a few days. While Machelle packed Dean ran over to the neighbor to ask if they could look after El torrito for a few day. The neighbors always looked after him when Jamie was away. When she zipped the bag shut, Roman took it immediately from her to carry it himself.  
After securing the house, they headed out to the car. Roman tossed her bag in the back and the three of them got in, with Dean at the wheel. "Okay, Denny's it is," he called out cheerfully. "Where's the closest one?"  
"We could check the GPS," Roman suggested, reaching for the buttons on the dashboard navigation system.  
"No need," Machelle said, starting to feel a little better. She knew Roman and Dean would do whatever they could to make sure she was safe. Jamie had always trusted them, always told her they were good men. Now she would trust them too. "Take a right at the end of my street, follow that to the main drag and turn left. The Denny's is right there."  
"A woman who can give clear directions," Dean joked, as he backed out of the driveway. "Now that's my kind of woman."  
As they drove down the street, none of them noticed the almost generic looking car parked on the street, nor the man inside that had been watching them. If they had, they would have recognized Jeremy immediately. And none of them would have been pleased to see the slow, cruel smile that played across his lips. He had never seen Machelle before and thus had no clue what she looked like, Now he knew who she was and what she looked like, which brought him that much closer to what he wanted, the contracts and the shares. He'd killed for them once, and if he had to, he'd kill for them again


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As luck would have it, the Denny's wasn't crowded and the three of them were able to get a table right away. Even though Roman and Dean teased her about only allowing her to order soup, crackers and ginger-ale, she could tell they were pleased that her appetite was a little stronger. She ended up ordering a ham and egg sandwich with fruit and coffee to drink.  
As they finished eating, Dean asked Machelle how she had met Jamie. Machelle told him she had known Jamie for about eight years. They had met at her sisters 21st birthday, at a bar in Haney, B.C. and had hit it off right away. He was in and out of her life after that but, they always talked or texted with each other. She was a ballroom/Latin dancer and was always on tour.  
She knew the sports business as Jamie over the years had always showed and taught her what to look for in a good sports player. "Jamie always said I had the arm of a football player and can throw a ball farther than any guy."  
Roman and Dean looked at each other, grinned, then said in unison, "You're Legs!"  
She laughed. "I always hated that nickname, I don't know why he insisted on calling me that."  
"He always talked about you," Roman remarked.  
"But we didn't believe half the things he said," Dean finished for him. "We thought those stories were just too far fetched. I guess we were wrong."  
"Shh, don't say that to loud, please, I do have a reputation to hold up to. I'm sure some of the stories he told you were true" she told them, still smiling.  
Dean smiled and said "like the one were you had punched some guy and Jamie had to come to your rescue?"  
Machelle smiled. "He didn't come to my rescue, Jamie started it and the guy was being an idiot. I had to defend my friend. Isn't that what any person would do?" she asked.  
Both Dean and Roman nodded in agreement.  
Jamie had called her a month before to come and join him in his other company, McKeana Inc. She was to be his apprentice of sorts, to learn the business. Before he had died, she was helping him with his youth center. She didn't know what the contracts he had left her were for or for what sport. Dean said that they could go and have a chat in the morning with Vince and Triple H.  
Roman looked at them both of them. "I know what some of the contracts are for."  
"What?" Dean asked, looking slightly confused.  
"When I first got to NXT, Jamie was the person who had me sign with them," Roman explained. "I know a few of the others that signed with me too, the rest we'll have to ask Hunter about."  
It was a long night for Machelle she was having trouble sleeping. She slid out of bed and grabbed her laptop from her bag and put the memory stick in. She started to watch the video again. Even though she had watched it many times, she thought she was missing something. She had questions. She thought to herself, "Why would someone want these contracts they belonged to WWE?" The lawyer had three large boxes of papers and files that had belonged to Jamie, but he still had not come across the contracts.  
Then, like a flash she remembered something Jamie had said to her a long time ago. "If anything happens to me, don't forget the can."  
As she was trying to remember what he had meant by that peculiar statement, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and was about to scream when she realized it was Roman. "You scared the living shit out of me," Machelle cried, as she clutched her chest.  
"I'm sorry" he said. "I was just wondering if you were alright. I was talking to you and you were spaced out there for a sec."  
"I'm sorry, I was. I just remembered something Jamie told me a long time ago," she said.  
"What" Roman asked, curious to what she would say.  
"I remembered Jamie saying something about a can. He always kept it in his cupboard. I think we should go to his house again. Find the can and bring it with us when we go to meet hunter and Vince."  
Roman looks at her. Do you know what it looks like?"  
Machelle was about to answer when Dean came into the room and sat beside her. Machelle looke at him and asked "I'm sorry guys, did I wake you? I didn't mean to."  
Dean smirked and said, "Nope. I don't usually sleep all night anyway. So whats this about a can?"  
Machelle smiled" I was just telling Roman I remember that Jamie had told me if anything happened to him. He always kept a can in his cupboard. Just in case. He never said what it had inside just that if anything happened to him make sure I got it. He also said that I couldn't miss it "  
The two guys look at each other then at Machelle, and said in unison, "Let's go to Jamie's place."  
"But after breakfast," Dean then added, "I'm starving and we need our strength anyway. Breakfast is the most important meal after all. "  
Machelle got off the couch, then turned around and said, "Your wrong. Coffee is the most important." They all laugh, Roman and Dean glad that at least Machelle was feeling more comfortable around them.  
Twenty minutes later, they all met in the living room. Roman and dean expressed surprise and delight that Machelle didn't take an hour to get ready like most girls. "Yeah," Dean remarked as they were heading out of the hotel room. "She's a keeper, all right."  
"She sure is," Roman agreed.  
After a quick breakfast, including grabbing some coffee to go, they were on there way to Jamie's house. When they got there it looked quiet and undisturbed just like they left it the night before. After Dean unlocked the door Machelle walked straight into the kitchen to begin looking.  
"So," Roman asked, "What would this can look like?"  
Machelle answered him, "well he always had tons of coffee cans, so I'm guessing big, and tall. He said that it was unmistakeable to miss and to look at the labels."  
Dean and Roman both nodded and started looking in the cabinets that lined the kitchen walls, while Machelle went into the pantry.  
A few minutes later, Machelle came out of the pantry, holding a very large can, the type that would be used in a hospital or other large, institutional place, not a can you would expect of someone who lived with one roommate. "I think I found it," she said. "In fact, I am definitely sure this is it."  
Dean and Roman laughed, seeing the huge can in the woman's arms and walked over. "Yeah, that looks like the type of thing Jamie would use," Roman remarked.  
"It gets better," Machelle said, turning it so the huge letters on the front were easily read by all three of them.  
"The Biggest Can Of Whoop Ass You Can Find," Dean read out loud and laughed again, Machelle and Roman joining in with him.  
"Jamie did have a weird sense of humor, don't you think?" Machelle asked and both guys nod their heads.  
"Yeah," Dean said, "He was also the biggest Stone Cold Fan I have ever known."  
Machelle nodded in agreement. "You bet he was. Stone Cold and The Rock. I think it was 'cause of me. I always said, 'Do You Smell What Jamie is cooking?'"  
As they stood there laughing Dean's cell went off. He pulled it out and looked at the screen. " Its Hunter," he said, "I'll be right back." He left the room to talk in private.  
Dean left the room, seeming to take the laughter the three of them had just shared with him and the truth came crashing down on Machelle again. Jamie was gone. Jamie wasn't at the store picking up milk, or at the pizza place getting dinner for the two of them. He wasn't even out of town taking care of business. Jamie was gone. She was standing in Jamie's house, surrounded by Jamie's things, and yet he would never walk in the door to claim them. Unable to stop them, Machelle felt the tears welling in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, knowing Jamie would want her to be strong.  
"So, you watch wrestling?" Roman asked, his voice a little too casual. "Who's your favorite?"  
Machelle looked at him "I know what your doing." She smiled.  
"I'm not doing anything." He protested, smiling back at her.  
"Yes you are! I am a Shield fan and I was so pissed that they split you guys up. I'm sure Jamie told you," she said, "He probably told you that I scream at the TV like any other wrestling fan, too."  
"Okay, okay, he did." He remarked, "We did say, he talked about you a lot. We all thought there was something going on with you two."  
Machelle smiled and shook her head. "No, no, we were just friends. He was like the brother I never had."  
Roman nodded. "So, can I ask you a question?"  
"Sure," Machelle said, "Shoot."  
"I'm just curious," he said with a smile, as Dean walked back into the kitchen. "Why did he call you, 'Legs?'"  
Machelle's face flushed. "Well, he said I had great legs.. It's from dancing. Kinda like Tina Turner with out the fame." she smiled at the memory. "It also always made me blush when he talked about my legs, so of course, he kept doing it."  
Roman nodded. "Well, he was right, you do have great legs." Before she could make a comeback, he turned his attention to Dean, "So what did Hunter want?" he asked.  
Dean looked at Machelle " Well there is a problem," he began, then paused as if collecting his thoughts.  
Machelle looked at him. "What else could go wrong?" She asked  
"Well," Dean explained, "It seams this Jeremy guy has sent a lawyer to give Vince a letter saying that the contracts are his. Vince is going nuts."  
Machelle looked up, a determined glint in her eyes. "Well, we'd better get to it, then." Striding across the kitchen, she opened a drawer, removed something and shoved it into the pocket of her jacket, then turned to the two men. "Well, let's get this show on the road, shall we? We have some ass to kick, now don't we?"  
Dean laughed. "It seems someone is ready to Rumble now, isn't she?"  
Machelle laughed as well. "I can't let you guys down, and Vince can't lose his company and contracts 'cause I'm scared. Besides I love a good fight."  
With that Dean hugged her. "Well, I can see why Jamie gave you this job. I know your scared but, you're not showing it. "  
Machelle smiled. " I have to be honest, I am scared shitless. Like I said when I first came to headquarters, I'm not in this for money. I want that asshole found and brought to justice for killing my friend and yours. Jamie deserves that." And with that she walked towards the door. "Okay, that's enough mushy shit, lets go."  
Roman and Dean followed her to the car. As she got in Dean asked her, "So what is the second thing you want from Vince? I mean you said you just want two things from him?"  
Machelle smiled. " I don't know yet, it sounded good at the time. Guess I'll think of something. I'm usually a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, kinda girl."  
Roman and Dean just smiled and nodded as Dean pulled out of the driveway.  
It only took 20 minutes to get to WWE Headquarters. Dean pulled into a parking space, turned off the engine, and turned to look at Machelle.  
"What? " She asked.  
"I'm just checking on you to see if your ready." He smirked "But I see it in your eyes, you are ready for a fight."  
Machelle looked from Dean to Roman. " I told you, I want to right this wrong. I will not let this asshole get the better of me or what is not his. Even if it kills me."  
Roman interrupted her "That will not happen, Vince will not let that happen. Hell I'm sure Dean feels the same way as I do." Dean nodded and Roman continued, "Believe that to be true."  
Machelle laughed. " Okay, Okay, enough with the cliches. I believe you!" she said as she opened the car door.  
When they walk into the building Hunter was waiting and hurried over. "Are you alright?" he asked the three of them, "we heard about Jamie's house being broken into."  
"I'm fine. I was a little scared." Machelle admitted.  
"A little?" Dean piped in, "That's an understatement."  
"Shut up Dean." Machelle said with a smile. "Okay, I was going nuts but, I'm good now and ready to take this ass down." With that she walked towards the same conference room they had used the day before.  
As she was sitting in her chair, Vince came in holding a letter. "Is that it?" she asked. When Vince's nod confirmed that it was she continued, "Can I see it?"  
Vince handed it to her.  
As she was reading it, she smiled and started to laugh.  
"Why are you laughing?" Vince asked in an angry voice, "this is not a laughing matter."  
"I'm sorry Vince it isn't," she agreed, "but what is funny is this is a fake letter."  
Roman heard Machelle's laughter and came into the room. "What do you mean its fake?" he asked.  
She was about to answer, why when the man of the hour walks into the room, Jeremy Mains.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Machelle froze for a moment, then, not knowing what to do, she ducked into an office and shut the door.  
Jeremy walked up to Vince who asked him, "What can I do for you Mr. Mains?"  
"Well Vince I just wanted to see if you got the letter?" Jeremy asked.  
"I did get it," Vince said, his voice calm, "If that's all you came to tell me you can leave now."  
"Okay, good, I also want to know when the next meeting of the board is going to happen?" Jeremy asked with a confident smirk. "Since, I do own a significant amount of shares in this company as well as some of the contracts of the wrestlers."  
Even though she was hiding, Machelle had her ear pressed to the door to hear what was being said and what she heard infuriated her. Shaking, she was about ready to open the door and give herself away when she heard Vince speak.  
"It's this Friday at nine in the morning," Vince said, his voice filled with confidence, knowing the shares and the contracts were really Machelle's. "I hope to see you then."  
"I'll be there," Jeremy said. Turning on his heel, he left the conference room, heading for the front door.  
Vince waited a few moments until he was sure Jeremy was gone from the building. "It's safe," he called out.  
Machelle walked out from her hiding place, feeling relieved Jeremy was gone and more confident that she had control of the situation. She put her hand on Vince's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry, we have this," she said as she sat down.  
Once she was seated, everyone turned their attention to her. "As I was saying before we were interrupted," she began, a smile on her face, "I know Jamie would never betray you or the WWE. Jamie loved you guys-" she paused as she saw Dean's eyes widen and heard a snort of laughter.  
She tried again, "What I mean-"  
This time she was distracted by a snicker from Roman. She shot him a look, but she could feel her own laughter trying to fight its way to the surface. Taking a deep breath, she tried one more time. "He did love you-"  
Again she was interrupted, as Roman and Dean snorted with barely contained laughter. She glared at them, trying to will them to stop, but the glare turned into a grin and she found herself giggling along with them.  
Vince looked at the three of them, shaking his head, obviously not as amused at this display of immaturity. But, a faint smile played across his lips as he waited for Machelle to pull herself together. Things had been so tense, it was not that surprising they were laughing, it was a mental escape valve.  
"What I mean," Machelle said, "Before I was so rudely interrupted by the children," she gave Roman and Dean a mock-stern glare. "Is that he loved you like brothers." She turned to Vince now, and she was no longer giggling, but her voice was warm. "You, Vince, he thought of as a father figure and a very good business man."  
Vince nodded, his expression never changing, but a combination of warmth and pain came into his eyes. The love and respect Jamie had felt for Vince was mutual and it was obvious Vince was suffering the loss of Jamie in his own way too.  
After giving him a moment to collect himself, she continued, this time sounding completely professional.  
"Jamie's legal name isn't James. It was Jamieson, his grandmother's maiden name. Jamie's father loved his mother, Jamie's grandmother, very much and she died two months before Jamie was born. He named his son in honor of her. When he signed legal documents, he always wrote out his full, legal name. Not James V. McKeanna." With a smug smile on her face she added." Do you guys know what his middle name was?" she asked  
Dean, Roman, and Hunter shook their heads, but Vince looked at Machelle with a strange expression on his face. Only Machelle knew the reason.  
"Your right." Vince confirmed with a smile, a smile that no one had seen since before this had started. He grabbed the piece of paper on the table and looked at it again. He was still smiling as he rose from the table and walked out of the boardroom without a word to anyone.  
Machell didn't hesitate, she rose to her feet and followed him out the door.  
"Hillary, can you get David Thomas on the phone?" Vince asked the receptionist, "Tell him I need to see him ASAP. He turned and went to his office.  
Machelle followed right behind him. "Excuse me?" she asked, letting him know she was behind him.  
Vince stopped and turned around " I'm sorry Machelle. I didn't mean to be rude and just leave like that."  
"It's okay sir, I understand." Machelle said, "It's just that I have something else for you." She handed Vince the can that they found in Jamie's house.  
Vince looked at the can, then to her, "What's this for?"  
"It was Jamie's." she replied. "He said that if anything happened to him, that I should find the can, which I did, but I think he wanted me to give it to you."  
"Thank you," he said.  
He was looking at the can carefully, seeing if there was a way to open it. Machelle smiled and reached into her pocket, pulling out the object Dean and Roman had seen her take from Jamie's kitchen. "I think you might need this," she said.  
He smiled. "You've thought of everything," he said, and proceeded to open the can. Inside there was a envolope. He took it out and opened it, and looked briefly at the contents then handed it to Machelle. "I think these are yours." As he hands Machelle the documents.  
With shaking hands she takes the documents and read the letter on top :  
Dear Machelle,  
If you are reading this, then you've opened that can of Whoop Ass, and I'm gone. I'm sorry, I tried to protect you from all of this, but I can't do that anymore. I have to depend on my friends to help you. I know they will.  
Please protect the shares and the contracts. I have heard from a trusted source that Jeremy is after them, and will stop at nothing to get them. He's having money problems and is desperate. He's already come to me for help, but I refused, because my accountant at McKeana Inc. discovered he's been embezzling funds from me. At the time I am writing this, we are trying to get together enough legal evidence to have him arrested and tried in court, but we haven't been able to do that. Still, I know it was Jeremy. But knowing and proving are two different things.  
Please go and see Bill Torino. He will help you sort this out and explain more. He is a friend and he's the one who let me know what was happening.  
Again I am sorry for dumping this on you Legs. Stay safe.  
All My Love,  
Jamieson Vincent McKeana.  
She read the last three lines in a whisper and when she finished, she wanted to cry, the pain of losing Jamie hitting her again. The four men in the room stayed respectfully quiet, letting her pull herself together. 'This is not the time for tears,' she told herself, 'there will be plenty of time to cry, later, when Jeremy Mains is behind bars forever. In the meantime, I have to be strong.' She sniffled once, then drew herself up to her full height. "Well," she said, not a trace of her almost melt down in her voice. "I think our next step is to find Bill Torino."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

She read the last three lines in a whisper and when she finished, she wanted to cry, the pain of losing Jamie hitting her again. The four men in the room stayed respectfully quiet, letting her pull herself together. 'This is not the time for tears,' she told herself, 'there will be plenty of time to cry, later, when Jeremy Mains is behind bars forever. In the meantime, I have to be strong.' She sniffled once, drew herself up to her full height. "Well," she said, without a trace of her almost melt down, "I think our next step is to find Bill Torino."  
Dean was the first one to speak. "What do you think this Torino guy has to do with this? I mean-"  
"- I think we should call Detective Orton, maybe he can help us," Hunter interrupted, starting to pace around the room. "He could at least tell us where to look for him."  
Standing up, Vince looked at Dean and Roman. "I think you two should go with her, just in case." He smiled at Machelle and added, "She's familiar with both of you, and trusts you."  
Vince, they can't," Hunter protested. "They have a signing in New York tomorrow."  
"Cancel it." Vince said sternly.  
"We can't. It's to late now. Some of the stars are in Europe, others are in California. Cena and Bryan are in Virginia. There is no way to get any of them there without any sort of notice," Hunter said.  
Vince cleared his throat. "Fine, they can go to New York, but we're going to cancel their other appearances until this matter is resolved. Don't worry, I'll arrange for the private jet to take them there myself."  
He walked out of the office, leaving the door open so they all could hear him as he went up to his secretary and told her to make the preparations. "Call Cecil and have him get the plane fuelled and ready for tomorrow morning. Dean and Roman will be going to New York and returning back here tomorrow afternoon. Then, I need you to cancel their commercial flight and try to get a refund on the tickets."  
While Vince went over some other things with his secretary, Hunter looked at Roman and Dean. "Is this all right with you two?" he asked.  
Dean spoke up "Of course it is. It's two hours away."  
Roman nodded." But where is Machelle going to go until then?" he asked, looking concerned.  
"I'll be okay at Jamie's house," Machelle said. "I'm sure if I have any problems in the eight hours or so you are gone his neighbours will help. Besides I don't need a babysitter. Jamie's house has an alarm and El Torrito will be there."  
Hunter smiled "Are you sure you will be okay, Machelle?"  
Machelle smiled back. "Have you met El Torrito?"  
Hunter's smile turned into a laugh. "Yes, yes, I have. Have you? He is the laziest, biggest baby I have ever met in my life. Did you guys see what my girls did to him a couple months back?" He paused to laugh even louder, and then continued, "Jamie came over to the house and the girls were all over him. They dressed that dog up in hats and feather boas and painted his toenails, hot pink! He just laid down and let them do what they wanted. As a matter of fact I think Stephanie has a picture on her phone."  
They all started to laugh. "Next time I see Steph, I have to ask her to show me that," Dean remarked. "I can't wait to see it."  
"Me either." Roman agreed, "That should be really funny, seeing a 180 pound mastiff with Hot Pink toenails."  
The four of them laughed hysterically, only stopping when Vince came back into the office. "What's so funny?" he asked.  
Hunter Looked at his Father in law "El Torrito," he said with a smile.  
"Ah!" Vince said, nodding. "The hot pink toenails and boa picture."  
When the laughter died, Machelle looked at the man Jamie had admired so much. "Vince?" she asked, her voice soft and a little hesitant, "May I ask you a question?"  
"Yes, of course," Vince said.  
"I was just wondering just how Jamie came across these shares?" she asked as she pulled out a chair and sat down.  
"I was wondering when someone would bring it up," he said, looking at her.  
He walked over to the door, and closed it, then returned and sat down. "Well it wasn't meant to be a secret. I forgot people didn't know the whole story." He started to nod his head. "Except for the family, I mean."  
Roman, Dean and Hunter all took a seat as Vince started to explain. "Jamie's grandfather, Andrew was the one who started this company with my father. When the company started getting off the ground, he wanted to go behind the scenes. Book venues and make calls to some of his many contacts, little things like that. He had just gotten married and wanted to stay out of the limelight. My father readily agreed. He wasn't fond of that part of the business, he liked the travelling." He remarked. "But, still keep the shares -".  
"When Andrew died, years later, the shares went to Jamie's father, Steve. He was very smart, even at 21 yrs old. My father always said he had a very good business mind." He paused smiling for a moment. "Steve is part of the reason this company was so successful in the beginning. When my father retired, that's when I got a chance to work with Steve. We became the best of friends through the years. After all, our fathers worked together, it seemed natural that we would become as close as they had been."  
Vince stood up and walked over to the table. He poured himself a glass of water and returned to his seat with it. He took a sip of the water, clearly collecting his thoughts before continuing. "We spent many evenings and weekends together, socially. Hell, we all played catch with the kids, Shane, Jamie, Stephanie too. My kids knew Jamie's house as well as they knew their own and vice versa." He paused for a moment, lost in the memories of that happier time.  
"We did the same routine. Steve had all the great contacts from his father. In the early years I considered him the face of the company so to speak. Not in the sense of being out front of the camera but, meeting contacts, looking for talent and getting them to sign with us. "He took another sip of the drink to help his suddenly dry throat.  
"When Steven died in a car accident, that's when Jamie came to help. Yes, Jamie had the shares but, we all thought of Jamie as family as well. Shane and Steph were working for the company at the time. This is a family business." He added. "Even then, Jamie knew he wanted to have a part in this business. But, like his father and father before him, he preferred to work one-on-one with the talent behind the scenes."  
Vince shook his head as if pulling himself out of the memories. "That's the story. Does that answer your question, Machelle?" He looked at her, waiting to see if she had any other questions.  
Machelle looked at Vince as she processed what he had just told her. "Yes," she finally said, "yes, it does."  
"Well, if that is all you need to know, then I will see you on Friday." He got up out of his chair. He went to walk out the door when. Machelle said. "Wait." She called out.  
Vince turned on his heel and looked at Machelle. "You need something else?" He asked.  
"Wait here just a minute, I'll be right back," Machelle exclaimed and leaped from her seat. She returned less than two minutes later holding the contracts she had retrieved from the conference room she had left them in. "I just wanted to know if you knew anything about the contracts?. " She asked as she held them up.  
"Those?" Vince asked, even though the answer was obvious. "They belong to McKeana Inc. Jamie was a sports agent. They belong to the company because all the people were given an open contract if I remember correctly." He said thoughtfully. "I will check them over with Hunter and have an answer for you on Friday hopefully. Now if that is all I am late for a meeting with my lawyer." He rose to his feet preparing to leave, but paused. "Unless you had something else you needed, Machelle?"  
"No, I think that's all for now Vince," she said, "Thank you for your time."  
Vince put his hand on her shoulder. "If you need anything, I mean anything just call me. Hunter will give you my cell number." When Machelle nodded, he left the room without another word, and walked out of the office.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Triple H gave Machelle Vince's private cell phone number as well as his own and Stephanie's. "I think this is overkill," he said, trying to inject a little levity in the grave situation, "But I'd rather you have too much than too little." Before Machelle could say anything, he looked at Roman and Dean, "Take care of her, okay? I'm counting on both of you."  
"We will," both men agreed.  
Their first order of business was to go to the hotel they had stayed in the previous night to collect their things and check out. Once done with that, all three of them realized they were hungry and went to get something to eat. At the restaurant Dean wondered out loud if perhaps they should stop at the grocery store. "I mean, we can't hold you prisoner," he mused, "But the less you go out, the safer you'll be if the house is well protected."  
"Don't worry about that," Machelle said. "El Torrito may not be an attack dog, but he is a barker. Between him and the state-of-the-art security system Jamie insisted on, that house is as close to Fort Knox as you can get."  
"Okay, that works then," Roman said. "So we'll pick up what we need at the grocery store."  
"Will we take turns cooking?" Dean asked. His voice slightly hesitant as if he wasn't sure that was a good idea. "I can make the basics..." his voice trailed off.  
"Don't worry," Machelle said, "I've got that covered. I find cooking very relaxing, so when I'm stressed, I love to cook."  
"Great!" Roman said and then in unison both men finished with, "Because we love to eat!"  
When they got to the house, the three of them entered together, checking the place out carefully to make sure it was safe. Machelle checked the security system for any signs of tampering and found it was clean. Roman and Dean checked all the rooms and places where someone might hide.  
Satisfied they were the only ones there, Dean turned to Machelle. "While you and Roman unpack the car and bring in the groceries, I'm going to get the babysitter," he joked  
"Ha! think you're funny, do you?" Machelle smacked his arm, then added, "you do know I will get you back for that, right  
"Yup," Dean called over his shoulder as he headed out of the house and over to the neighbors to get the dog, "And I'll be ready and waiting!"  
Roman worked on emptying the car while, Machelle began putting the food away. On one of his trips into the kitchen, he paused and looked at her. "Promise me you won't try and find this guy yourself," he said, his voice kind, but firm.  
"I will not look for him, I promise." Machelle said, raising her hand as if making a pledge.  
"Okay," Roman said, sounding relieved.  
"But," Machelle continued, as if he hadn't spoken. "I'm not going to promise I won't look for something about him. Perhaps Jamie's lawyer or even Detective Orton can fill in some of these gaps. It could prove to be useful."  
"Okay," Roman agreed, "I was just checking." He looked around as Machelle was putting vegetables into the crisper drawer. "Do you need any help putting away the groceries?"  
"Machelle shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She smiled when she spoke. Sure, Dean and Roman's constant worry about everything she did could be a little trying, but she appreciated that they cared. When this started, she thought they might only be doing it out of respect for Jamie, but now she was sure they were doing it because they honestly cared about her as well.  
"Okay then," Roman said, a warm grin spreading over his face. "Since the groceries are all in, I'll just go get our luggage then." With that he left the room.  
It was less than seconds later when Machelle heard a thud, followed by Roman's voice, loudly asking, "What the HELL?"  
Machelle hurried out of the kitchen. She could hear Dean laughing and soon joined in when she saw what was happening. Roman was on the floor, El Torrito standing on his chest, enthusiastically licking the side of Roman's face.  
"Get off me, you overgrown mongrel," he said, pushing the dog from his chest. El Torrito, for his part, didn't look the least bit upset at being insulted, and instead began dancing around as if this were a great game. He looked up at Machelle and Dean, still laughing and frowned. "Glad to see you both think this is so funny," he groused, then looked at Dean, "Wait until he does it to you."  
"Your just embarrassed because someone pinned you." Dean laughed.  
Machelle just shook her head. Then she went back in the kitchen to finish putting the groceries away.  
After Dean and Roman settled into their rooms, the three of them met in the kitchen, where Machelle was just finishing washing some apples for snacking.  
"It's still early, how about we watch a movie?" Dean asked. When Roman and Machelle nodded in agreement, he went to the TV. Turning it on, he began scrolling through the guide trying to find something.  
"See anything good?" Roman asked, after a bit.  
"Well doesn't look promising." Dean grumbled.  
"So what do you say we go through Jamie's extensive movie collection?" Roman suggested looking at Dean.  
"Go for it," Machelle said, "You both can pick the movie and I'll make popcorn."  
Roman and Dean nodded and headed to the media cabinet where over 400 movies were housed. After a heated, but friendly debate. They settled on a comedy. Roman put the movie in the player and the two men settled on either side of the sofa.  
When Machelle came in from the kitchen, she carried a big bowl of freshly made popcorn and three bottles of water. She settled down between the two men, distributing the water while Dean started the movie.  
"So what did you pick?" she asked, as Dean pressed the "Play" button on the DVD player.  
"You'll see," Dean teased.  
She smiled when she saw the sunrise on the screen, then the close up of the automatic sprinkler going on. She knew this movie. "Caddy shack!" she said. "This is one of my favourites!"  
"Mine too," Dean admitted.  
"It's everyone's favourite," Roman said.  
"Everyone?" Machelle teased.  
"Everyone that counts," Roman said, in a tone of voice that said he would not argue that point. "C'mon, it's a classic."  
The three of them relaxed together, watching the movie, laughing enthusiastically at their favourite parts, all three of them agreeing that the gopher was pretty cheesy in the light of modern special effects, but that in itself was part of what made the movie special.  
"If they fixed it with a more realistic CGI gopher, it would ruin the movie."  
"Yeah, Roman agreed. "Like Turner colourizing all those old, classic, black and white films."  
"I heard they're going to colourize the beginning of The Wizard of Oz," Machelle said, doing her best to keep the grin off of her face and to look deadly serious.  
"Really?" Roman looked horrified as if someone had suggested they were going to add sunglasses to the Mona Lisa.  
"Gotcha!". Machelle said. Unable to stop from breaking out into laughter.  
After Caddy shack, they debated if they should watch another movie, but decided against it. The boys had to be up early the next day, and Machelle wanted to get up with them to see them off. So the three of them went to their respective rooms and settled in for the night.  
The next day, Machelle watched, waving from the doorway as Roman and Dean got into the car Vince arranged to have them picked up. When the car rolled out of sight, she shut the door and went into the kitchen. Although she had offered to make them breakfast, neither Dean nor Roman were interested in anything more than coffee. She poured herself another cup, emptying the pot, and decided to make herself something to eat.  
A few minutes later, she was settled on the couch with scrambled eggs, toast, and the last of the coffee. She watched one of those early morning wake up shows as she ate her breakfast.  
She was on her way to take her plate to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. El Torrito started barking.  
"It's okay." She said as she patted him on the head walking towards the door.  
"Who is it?" She asked through the closed door. El Torrito right by her side.  
"Machelle, its Mr. Horton from next door. I came to get El Torrito for his walk." He called.  
Remembering that Dean had said the older gentleman would be picking up the dog later that day for his morning walk. So Dean and Roman didn't have to worry about her leaving the house. She opened the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. He's all yours." She said laughing as the dog got excited.  
"We should be back in an hour or so," Mr. Horton said, watching as El Torrito danced around excitedly, knowing what was coming.  
"Thanks so much for all you're doing, Mr. Horton," Machelle said as she took the dog's leash from the hook on the wall where it hung. "I appreciate it so much."  
"No problem Machelle. I did it for Jamie when he was busy or out of town. Besides he's a good dog." He said, giving the dog a pat on his side as he fastened the leash to his collar.  
"Well then, you both have fun." she said to the older man and the dog.  
"We will," Mr. Horton assured her as he and El Torrito started heading down the driveway, no doubt headed to the little park at the end of the street.  
After closing and locking the door behind her, Machelle went back to the couch. The morning news show was over, so she scrolled through the guide, looking for something to watch. She stopped on Miss. Congeniality. It was one of her favourite Sandra Bullock movies, and she settled in to watch. As the familiar movie played, she found herself drifting off to sleep.  
She was woken suddenly by a knock at the door. Thinking it was Mr. Horton back from walking the dog. She got up from the couch and went to answer. When she opened the door, she was surprised and horrified to see it was Jeremy, a dark look on his face. She tried to close the door, but wasn't fast enough, as he put his foot in the way. "Uh-uh," he said, as if she were but a naughty child as he forced his way in. "That's not very nice, Machelle."  
Her mind went right into flight mode and she remembered that the security panel by the back door had a panic button. Turning she started to run then remembered the baseball bat she had put by the door for just a situation like this. She turned back and saw that what she had forgotten, Jeremy had found. He hefted the bat in his hands and smiled a cold, cruel smile. "Nice of you to provide me with a weapon, sweetheart," he said, each word sounding as if it was dipped in ice water. "Jamie always did say you were a gracious hostess to all your guests."  
Machelle tripped on a carpet runner that was in the hall and fell to the ground. Jeremy was right behind her and swung the baseball bat, hitting Machelle on the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. Jeremy swung the bat again, as Machelle raised her hands to protect her head as the bat landed with a sickening crack onto her forearm. Figuring he had her where he wanted her, he tossed the bat to the side. "You have something I want," he said, in that same icy voice. Twisting his fingers into her hair, he pulled her up to her feet and threw her against the wall. Her head slammed into the drywall with a loud thud that seemed to echo through the entire house. "And you will give it to me."  
"No!" she cried through the haze of pain that threatened to overwhelm her. "The shares and the contracts are mine! Jamie left them to me!"  
Displeased with her attempt at defiance, Jeremy wrapped his hand around her neck and began applying pressure at the pit of her throat, causing her to cough weakly. "You are going to give them to me," he said coldly. "I already killed once for these, do you think I won't again? I'm a desperate man, Machelle, and I have nothing to lose and everything to gain."  
'You can out think him,' Machelle told herself, trying to ignore the pain in her throat. 'You're twice as good as him on your worst day, so think!' She started to say something, and realized she could barely talk with the pressure he was applying on her windpipe. Then it hit her that she could use this situation to her advantage. "Everything you need," she began, making her voice sound much worse that it was. "Everything you need," she repeated, then added as fast and low as possible, making it sound like pure gibberish. "Isinthesafeinthebackbedroombehindthepainting!"  
"What?" He leaned forward to hear what she was saying. "Say that again!" he ordered.  
Without hesitating, she punched Jeremy as hard as she could in the stomach, knocking the air out of him, which forced him to let her go. The second she felt his hands leave her throat, she stomped on his instep as hard as she could, while bringing up the heel of her hand and driving it into his nose with all the force she could muster. As Jeremy jerked back in pain, she brought up her knee and drove it into his groin as hard as she could. Unable to take any more, Jeremy's knees buckled and he fell to the floor.  
Not waiting to see how much damage she'd done, Machelle sprinted to the back door and hit the panic button on the alarm panel. Keeping a close eye on Jeremy, least he rise and go after her, she flung open the back door, not even seeing the figure who was right behind the door until she ran smack into him, falling backwards onto the floor. In disbelief, she stared at the stranger.  
"It's okay, Machelle," he said, his voice calm as he leaned over to help her to her feet."I'm here to help you. I'm Bill Torino."  
As Bill was helping Machelle they heard a car come to a screeching halt in the driveway. A few seconds later in came Detective Orton. He scanned the room looking over at Machelle."Are you okay?" he asked.  
Jeremy is over there!" Bill barked, pointing to where Jeremy lay on the floor, still stunned.  
The words were barely out of Bill's mouth when two other uniformed police officers came in. Detective Orton wasted no time pointing to Jeremy. "Get that piece of crap cuffed and out of here!" he ordered. The officers hurried to do what was asked of them.  
"Dat bitch boke by nothe!" Jeremy shouted, blood dripping down from his nose as the officers lead him away to the squad car.  
Bill looked Machelle over to see how badly she was hurt. They heard Detective Orton talking to another officer. "Call this in, tell them we need an ambulance ASAP!" he ordered. Then turned his attention to Bill and Machelle. "She okay Bill?" he asked, with concern in his voice.  
Bill looked at the detective " I think she has a broken arm and a separated or even broken shoulder." He said.  
Detective Orton then turned to an officer. "Where in the hell is that ambulance?" he shouted.  
Machelle barely conscious looked at the two. " H-how did you-" She stammered, " H-how did you know I was in trouble?" she asked.  
"I was coming over to talk to you," Bill added. "As I was about to ring the bell, I heard you screaming inside. The front door was locked, so I went around the back. That was when you opened the door and we ran into each other." He smiled and added, "Literally."  
"You did all that to him?" Detective Orton asked, unable to keep the admiration from his voice.  
"Yeah," Machelle said, unable to keep the pride out of her voice.  
Just as Detective Orton was stepping outside he heard someone shouting, asking what was going on and why the police were here. He saw Mr. Horton and El Torrito in the driveway being questioned by one of the officers. "It's okay, George," he called out. "He's the neighbour and that's Jamie's dog!"  
Mr Horton went straight to the detective. " I-I just took El Torrito for a walk. What happened here? I just left her. She was fine!" He said, panic showing on his face and in his voice.  
The Detective tried to comfort the distraught man." It's okay, she will be fine," he said, "she's going to go to the hospital to get checked out."  
"Please tell her I will take care of El Torrito until she gets out," he told the Detective.  
"Don't worry I will tell her, and keep you updated," he said putting his hand on the shoulder of the distraught man.  
He then took out his phone again and scrolled through his contacts finding Hunter's number and pressing send. " Hunter," He started." It's Detective Orton. I'm just calling you to tell you. That there has been an incident with Machelle. She will be taken to sunrise general. She was attacked by Mr. Mains." He started but was interrupted by Hunter on the other end.  
"WHAT? Is she okay?" he asked, starting to panic. "I'm on my way." he disconnected the call before Detective Orton could answer.  
Can anyone guess what part of miss congeniality Machelle was watching when Jeremy came?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was fifteen minutes later when the ambulance pulled into the hospital. The EMT's rushed Machelle into the emergency ward and the doctors took over.  
Hunter and Vince pulled in a parking stall. Minutes later the other two men came screeching into the park aide. Dean and Roman got out of the car and met the other men at the park aide door leading to the emergency entrance. Hunter had called the two guys from the car and left a message on their cell phones. To make sure they knew what was going on. He also called Cecil the pilot. Knowing that the two men were going to land soon. Bill and Detective Orton met them at the Front. "Gentleman this is Bill Torino. He's a Private Detective that was working with Jamie." Detective Orton said.  
"It's nice to meet you Bill." Hunter said.  
Before Bill could return his greeting, Vince interrupted. "Maybe, I should have hired someone. Got her to stay with Linda and I or you and Stephanie." He said looking at Hunter. Vince felt like it was his fault for Machelle getting hurt. Hunter put his hand on Vince's shoulder hoping to try and comfort him and keep him calm.  
"It would have just postponed it Vince." Detective Orton said trying to make the older man feel better. "He was desperate. He would have gone after her. Regardless of where or who she was with."  
"Okay, okay, I get it. So what is going to happen now?" Vince asked feeling a little better.  
"Well, now I have Jeremy for assault and battery and attempted murder. He will be going away regardless of any other evidence we find." He said.  
"No!" Bill said practically screaming. "You have him for murder. Like I told you on the phone when you called. There is new evidence we have just found out about in the last few hours."  
Just as he was about to explain, a doctor came walking out from behind the emergency doors.  
"I am looking for the friends of Machelle Stuart." The man said.  
"That's us." Dean said and stepped forward.  
The doctor walked towards the six gentlemen. He stopped in front of them.  
"Gentleman, I'm Dr. Jackson," He said, "I'm an orthopedic surgeon. The X-rays taken of Ms. Stuart's shoulder and arm showed extensive damage, I'll need to perform surgery to fix it. They all nodded.  
"How long will that take?" Roman asked.  
She should be out in about three hours, depending on how much damage we find once we open her up," he said. "We'll make sure to keep you informed. Don't worry, this is fairly routine surgery, if there are any complications, we'll let you know." He smiled, trying to set the men at ease. "Don't worry, she's in good hands." And with that, he turned around and left the waiting room.  
"Okay, Now what do we do while we wait?" Dean asked.  
"I would like to know what you meant, Bill." Detective Orton asked looking at the man.  
"Well, I think you guys should sit down for what I'm about to tell you. So let's go grab a coffee." Bill suggested.  
They found the hospital cafeteria easily and in a few minutes were all sitting down with cups of coffee. Bill didn't waste any time in getting started.  
"First, I would like to tell you that Jamie was a good friend. He helped me and many others, he had a good heart." He looked at each one that was sitting in front of him, and then added "Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I almost have all the evidence I need. Jeremy left a good trail for us to follow."  
"I have forged cheques the bank has sent and a paper trail," Bill continued, taking a sip of his coffee. "Jamie called me in as soon as he suspected someone was trying to kill him. We also found this," he reached in his pocket and pulled out a flash drive.  
"Jamie's lawyer found a letter in one of the boxes he had. A letter from a Dr. Willow Glittersauce saying Jamie was sick. He had an inoperable brain tumor." He wiped his eyes; he went into his briefcase and took out his computer. After booting it up, he put the flash drive in and pressed play.  
Start of Video:  
They see Jamie sitting at his desk. Typing on his computer. There was a knock on his office door. Jamie stands up to greet the person. It was Jeremy. There is some small talk back and forth from the two friends. They see Jamie walk back to his desk, and sit down in his office chair. Jamie then shows Jeremy something on his computer. You can see Jeremy was getting mad waving his hands. Jamie stands up. Jeremy pushes him. Jamie falls on the floor. Then Jeremy pulls out a gun and shoots Jamie in the head. Then the video shows Jeremy go into Jamie's safe in the office. Jeremy then takes money out. Then put it into an envelope. Then he leaves.  
END VIDEO.  
After the video ended the men looked at Bill speechless. After a few minutes he explained some of the things that happened.  
"This all started Two months before Machelle came. Before the video cameras were installed. Jamie had his suspicions of Jeremy when he started asking him for money for a debt he owed. Jeremy was constantly asking to borrow money that's why Jamie refused to help him this time. Then Jeremy started getting violent with him. Jeremy had found the letter from the doctor. So he tried to strong arm him into giving him the money he needed. Jamie was still well enough to fight him off. Then Jamie asked me to put video surveillance in his house and at the office. He didn't trust Jeremy anymore. Jeremy would go into Jamie's office after hours and take cheques and sometimes cash that Jamie had in the safe. Jamie then had his accountant look at the books. Where the accountant had found suspicious cheques made out to Jeremy. We didn't have a lot of evidence at the time until the cameras were installed." Bill said looking at everyone.  
"I swear to you Jamie thought this would be settled before Machelle came. He made sure Machelle had all the previsions she would need. He was going to tell her about his disease. I know this is a lot to take in." he said looking at the men that worked with Jamie.  
Then turning to detective Orton he said. "Like I said, you have your evidence to put him away for a long time." He finished.  
After a long silence the detective got his cell out of his jacket and called the station. "Book Jeremy Mains for murder. We have found last minute video evidence of him murdering Jamie McKeana. I'll bring it in. I'll be there in half an hour" He said and hung up the phone.  
A few minutes later Dr. Jackson came into the cafeteria. Seeing the six men he walks over to the table. "I just wanted to give you guys an update. The operation to repair her shoulder and her arm went well. Machelle is in recovery and doing very good. You gentlemen can go and see her in about 15 minutes if you like. If you will excuse me. I have another couple hours until I'm done here." He then turned and walked to get some coffee.  
After finishing their coffee the men made their way out of the cafeteria and up to the third floor.  
They stopped first at the nurse's station to find out what room she was in. Going to the room, they Peeked, in trying not to disturb her if she was sleeping.  
"I'm awake, the nurse just gave me drugs for the pain but, you guys you can come in for a bit." she said, trying not to fall asleep again.  
"We won't stay long Machelle you need to rest. We all just wanted to see you." Vince said going over to her right side. He looked at her taped up arm. Hunter stood beside him. Dean and Roman on the left. Detective Orton stood at the end of the bed.  
"That's okay. I knew you guys would be coming to visit. The doctor said I might be out in time for the meeting." She said sleepily.  
"Don't you worry about the meeting," Vince reassured her, "You just get better and rest."  
"What is going to happen to Jeremy? I mean is he going to jail?" she asked.  
"He's been arrested for murder." Detective Orton said. Then added "We might need you to testify. But you won't have to worry about him anymore. He's going to jail for a long time."  
"Good to hear-". She started to say, but, before she could finish, the drugs started to kick in and she fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next day Detective Orton had come to the hospital and taken Machelle's statement so she didn't have to go down to the police station. Since Jamie's house still had the surveillance system, with Bill's help they had a video of what Machelle went through, further evidence to get Jeremy convicted.  
Bill had also come to visit and told her about Jamie being terminally ill. He made sure that no was in the room when he told her just in case she needed her space to cry. Machelle thought that it was nice since she didn't want the others to see her break down. Dean and Roman were out side the room listening just in case she needed them.  
Vince and Hunter had come to make sure she didn't need anything and keep her company. Vince knowing Machelle wanted to be a part of the company in some way, made sure to tell her when the next meeting was and circled it on a calendar for her.  
Vince was being very generous to Dean and Roman too. He had made a deal with them that they only had to go to Raw and Smackdown tapings, so they could help Machelle until she could do things herself. Machelle had argued it wasn't necessary but Vince insisted and wouldn't let her get a word in. She was worried that Dean and Roman had their own lives and that she would be a burden. Dean and Roman assured her they didn't mind, that for them, it was going to be like a mini vacation.  
It was four days later that Machelle was released from the hospital. She was so happy to be getting out. Dean and Roman were coming to pick her up. As she was waiting for them a nurse came in and helped her pack her clothes in a bag that they had brought for her. She also helped her get dressed. Another nurse came in with Machelle's release papers for her to sign.  
The doctor had arranged for home care nurses to come in every few days. That would help Machelle, with getting dressed and having a shower. So that Dean and Roman didn't have to worry about that part.  
She took a piece of toast and banged it on the side of her tray where it broke into small pieces, making a mess, on the floor. "I can't wait to get out of here and get some decent food in me." She said to the two nurses.  
"It's not just you everyone hates the food here. That is so you won't get any ideas and want to stay to long." One of the nurses said with a smile almost running into Dean as she walked out.  
"She's all yours." The other nurse said as she walked out.  
"Can we please get some decent food on the way to Jamie's house please?" Machelle asked not caring who answered.  
"What's the matter Machelle? Hospital food is the best ever!" Dean said with a smirk on his face looking at the crumbs on the floor.  
"You like it so much you can stay then." Machelle smiled and smacked his arm. "Let's get the heck out of here before they change their mind."  
With that Dean grabbed Machelle's bag from the bed and Roman helped Machelle. Then they walked out of the room and down the hall to the elevator.  
As they waited for the elevator to come Roman asked "So what kind of food do you feel like?"  
Machelle looked at him with a smile "Honestly I don't care. I know you guys try and eat healthy but, I really need a burger, fries or even fried chicken anything with grease. Oh and a decent coffee would be great".  
Both guys just laughed glad to see she had a healthy appetite and was in a good mood. As the elevator doors opened they stepped in.  
The car was at the front entrance of the hospital. Roman went to open the passenger door. When Machelle opened the back door and got in saying that Roman had longer legs and he would be squished in the back. Instead of arguing Roman just helped Machelle get her seat belt on. Then got in himself and buckled up. As Dean put her bag in the trunk and got into the drivers seat.  
Even though Dean and Roman said it would be better for drive thru. Machelle insisted she was feeling okay. So they decided on Denny's for some lunch. Besides it was just around the corner from Jamie's place. After a big lunch, consisting of a cheeseburger, fries, and of course coffee, plus she stole some of  
Dean's onion rings with little resistance from him. Even though Roman had nothing greasy on his place, Machelle stole some of his salad, just so he wouldn't feel left out.  
When they got home, Dean and Roman helped Machelle upstairs. After taking a single dose of pain meds the hospital had given her, to hold her over until the prescription could be filled, Machelle laid down and was asleep very quickly. Then the two men left the room and went down stairs, making sure to leave the door open so they could hear her in case she needed them.  
Walking into the living room Roman said "One of us should go and get her medication filled from the drug store. I have her insurance card and the scripts from her doctor."  
"I'll go," Dean said, Then asked, do we need anything else?"  
"I don't think so," Roman said, then thinking, he added. "Oh, better get some Lipton noodle soup just in case. The pills might make her sick if she doesn't have anything on her stomach, some saltines, too."  
Dean nodded. He grabbed her insurance card and her scripts from Roman and the keys from the table and left.  
An hour later Dean came back with two bags, that not only had soup and saltines in them, but also M&M's, chips, Chex mix, grapes and other things he thought they might like for the night time movies he had planned. Since that is what he liked to do when he was off, he thought that it would be good for Machelle too. "A couple days of chilling out is just what she needs," he commented to Roman as he unpacked the things he bought.  
They went looking for the dog before both of the men went to bed to let him out to go pee. When they couldn't find him they went upstairs to check the room Machelle was in. El Torrito was curled up with his head on a pillow on one side of the bed. He wagged his tail when he saw them. Dean couldn't resist taking a picture and sent it to Vince, Hunter and Roman, just because Roman asked for a copy to. Machelle slept for the rest of the night.  
The next morning the guys were woken up by the smell of coffee and some choice cuss words.  
"What do you think your doing?" Dean and Roman said in unison standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Almost giving Machelle a heart attack. She let out a scream and almost fell off the chair she was standing on but, grabbed the shelf with her good arm. "You scared the living crap out of me you guys." She said holding her hand over heart. "Sorry did I wake you guys? I was trying to make you guys breakfast but, it's not going to good." as Dean stepped forward helping her off the chair.  
"Okay let's make a deal. You stay off the furniture first off." Roman said "We will look after the meals." He gestured between Dean and himself.  
"If not there is always take out. You just sit and watch the master's work." Dean said laughing. He grabbed Machelle by the waist, being careful not to hurt her bad shoulder. Turned her around and took her to the stool at the end of the kitchen island getting her to sit down.  
"Then I can help you there." She started. "I can tell you two how to make things but, you two can do the work. Deal?"  
The two men looked at each other "Deal." They said in unison. With that Dean went to the fridge and Roman grabbed a frying pan from the drawer.  
"What do you guys know what to cook? I mean you said you can make the basics." She said from her seat with her coffee in hand.  
"I think we can cook eggs, toast and grilled cheese things like that." Dean said and Roman nodded his head.  
"It's the bigger things like roasts, pasta and turkey's we need help with." Roman added.  
"Okay, that I can help with. We can start your first cooking lesson at four. There is a roast in the freezer let's take it out." She said as she was about to get up but, Dean stopped her by putting his hand up.  
"I got it. Just sit." He said. With that he went into the fridge freezer to search for the roast. After finding it he put it on a plate and into the fridge.  
Machelle sat back down. Looking at the two guys and smiled to her self thankful that Jamie's friends were there and that they wouldn't let anything happen.  
After she set the table she went and sat down on the stool. She started to look sad when Dean came over.  
"What are you thinking about?" He asked looking at her.  
"Sorry," she said. Then looking at him she started again, "I don't know, I was just thinking Jamie has another house closer to his business in Florida. Maybe I could sell this one. Maybe live in the other one or sell it too. Maybe even run his business there."  
"I think that if you want to sell this one now is a good time. I mean since Roman and I have the time off to help pack and help look for another one if that's what you want. We could call an agent today. Even ask about the market." He turned and looked at Roman.  
"If you are not feeling comfortable here we could go to a hotel or leave to go to the other house?" Roman added.  
"No I'm fine while you guys are here. It's just when you guys go back on the road for good, what am I going to do? I mean I can't just sit on my ass, I want to help or do something. It sounds stupid I know." She looked down into her coffee.  
"No it doesn't, Machelle. He was your friend and ours, we can all get through this if we just stick together." Dean said.  
Both Roman and Machelle looked at him, a little surprised to hear such sentimentality coming out the lunatic fringe. "When did you get so mushy Dean?" Roman said with a smile.  
"Hey I really do understand. I know I wouldn't want to be by myself with out you guys here," he said, "You think I'm some guy who doesn't care about things, but, I do care about my friends. Machelle you're a friend now. Even if I act crazy on TV, I do have a heart. Now can we stop with this mushy shit? And eat? I'm starving!"  
"Typical Ambrose," Roman said, shaking his head, "Pulling things out of left field. We just never know what you're going to say next."  
Machelle just smiled and put her head on Dean's arm and put her hand out to Roman, who took it and gently squeezed it. "You're right we can get through this together," she said, "Thank you guys for being here and helping."  
After they finished breakfast Machelle grabbed the phone book out looking for movers. After she called several and got appointments with three to get estimates over the next couple days. So she could look through and pack the things that she would keep. She was serious about selling and moving, starting over would be a good thing.  
She went back to the phone book and looked for a realtor. She called one to make an appointment with them for the next day. Then she took her medication feeling a little bit sore and went upstairs for a nap.  
A couple hours later she came down stairs to find Roman and Dean playing in the back yard with El Torrito. She opened the patio door and stood beside Roman. She laughed as Dean fought the big dog for a ball. Machelle and Roman had started laughing even harder when El Torrito shook his head and drool went flying out of his cheeks hitting Dean in the face and arms. Dean was totally disgusted but, laughing at the same time. Roman was almost rolling on the ground holding his sides. El Torrito then saw Machelle. He came at her in a full barrel run. Roman thank god, stepped in front of her as she took a couple steps to the side. So the dog wouldn't run into her and knock her down. They all laughed when again the dog knocked down Roman and started licking him upside the face. Then it was Dean's turn to start rolling on the ground in laughter. Machelle ran back into the house grabbing her phone to take pictures of the whole scene. After several minutes of Roman trying to get the dog off his chest he finally succeeded.  
Then they decided it was time to start making dinner so they went inside. After Roman and Dean went to their rooms and cleaned up they met Machelle in the kitchen. Machelle had sat down with a cup of tea at the end of the big island. Handing them two plain black aprons she found behind the pantry door.  
"Okay, first how rare do you like your roast? Medium, well done or medium rare?" Machelle asked the two men.  
"Medium to medium rare," they said in unison.  
"Good choice." Machelle said. "Okay, first we need to season it with pepper and garlic salt. I don't usually put salt on, if I use the garlic salt. We need to peel potatoes and maybe some carrots and put some water in the bottom. Then put it in the oven for about one and a half hours. It's that easy," she said looking proud of herself for not getting up and doing it. She usually would have.  
As she was rambling what to do off, Machelle had turned the oven on to 350 F. Roman had located the roasting pan and put the roast in with the seasoning on it. Remembering to put some water in the bottom. Dean went in search of the potatoes finding them in the pantry. Trying to peel them with a knife and cutting them in quarters. Then grabbing the carrots from the fridge after Machelle had given him a peeler. He did the same. He then grabbed them all and put them around the roast as Roman grabbed the tin foil and tore a piece off. Putting it over the roast. Dean opened the oven and Roman put it in to cook. After getting some broccoli washed and ready for the steamer. The three friends sat down and watched Vampire Diaries until it was time to turn the steamer on and put the green veggies in to cook.  
As they waited for the dinner to finish they got the table set. When the roast was done Dean got it out of the oven and Roman cut it into slices. Dean then got the potatoes, carrots and broccoli ready in a bowl and put it on the table. Then they all sat and had their first of many sit down dinners together.  
After dinner the guys took the dishes away and put them into the dish washer. As Machelle watched from the end of the island and made small talk. Dean put the tea kettle on while Roman finished cleaning things up. After the kettle boiled he gave her the tea and she took her medication.  
About ten minutes later Machelle was yawning "Are we that boring for you Machelle?" he asked with an evil smile on his face.  
Which Machelle responded by "Well you know what they say don't you, Dean?" she smiled and winked looking at Roman "If the shoe fits." Then she paused and added, "No, seriously, I'm so sorry guys. These meds are really getting to me. I can't keep my eyes open. I think I'm going to turn in now." The guys helped her up the stairs El Torrito followed behind. He laid in the same spot he did the night before.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next morning they all got up at almost the same time. Dean and Roman made breakfast while Machelle made coffee and set the table after Dean had got the plates down from the cupboard for her. It was going to be a busy day.  
They all cleaned the house. They split up the chores. Dean vacuumed the bedrooms after Roman and Machelle made the beds. Roman helped Machelle do some laundry. Making sure that they had their ring gear clean and ready for when the guys had to leaves.  
Dean made some sandwiches from the roast they had and the trio sat down to eat. Dean was totally disgusted when Machelle asked him to cut some sweet mix pickles into slices. Then put them on her sandwich. After some play fighting Machelle made him try it. Then he admitted he was wrong and thought it was pretty good.  
Tom Sullivan the Realtor Machelle called came over to look at the house. Machelle told him it had six bedrooms, Media room, a pool, a pool house that had two bedroom in it, home gym and big kitchen. He looked around the house. When it was time to go outside Dean held El Torrito's collar just in case he decided to pounce on the older man. He told them that he would be back the next day to take photos.  
After he left Machelle decided that she should go through the house to put sticky notes on the items that she would be donating to local families. Dean took out a pen and paper and wrote the things down Just so she would have a list of everything. Like the beds, dressers and Jamie's clothes.  
Then went through the gym, thinking that the youth centre down the road would love some of the equipment. As Roman and Dean had been to Jamie's house in Florida and had a home gym there too. When they got to his office they packed some boxes with papers that Jamie had in his file cabinets and in his desk and put them in the garage.  
The trio decided to take El Torrito for a walk down to the youth centre. They asked for the person in charge. They explained that they wanted to donate some things. The person in charge Mathew was excited and made arrangements for a day when Dean and Roman would be there to help set the equipment up. They also asked if there was anyone in need for furniture which Mathew said he would get back to them. Machelle left her name and number so Mathew could get a hold of her.  
Then they headed home. They were all tired so again, Dean made sandwiches. He made sure to put the pickles on all of them and they settled down and watched some TV until they all couldn't keep their eyes open. Then they all went to their own rooms.  
The next morning Machelle was trying to be quiet, as to not wake the guys. They would be leaving later that day to go to Raw so she decided to take her coffee outside.  
Sitting on a lounge she tried to convince herself that it was a good thing she was moving on. Even though there had been nothing going on between her and Jamie she still felt like she had lost a loved one.  
Then started thinking of her life how she had not dated in a long time. Then snapped out of her thoughts when El Torrito tried to climb onto the lounge she was sitting on and knocked her coffee over that was sitting on the ground.  
"You big oaf," she laughed. "Where is your ball?" The big dog ran off to find his ball. Minutes later he brought back a soccer ball and dropped it into her lap. "Alright I get the idea." She took the ball and kicked it across the grass.  
Remembering what happened to Roman. Machelle realized this was a bad idea.  
When El Torrito brought it back to her he came running at her. Seeing the dog lunging from inside the house, Dean ran outside and jumped in front of Machelle, preparing himself to take one for the team. The big dog barrelled over him, knocking him to the ground. Thinking it was fun, El Torrito started licking Dean's face and sat on his chest as he had done to Roman a couple days earlier. When he was convinced Dean's face was cleaned to his satisfaction, he got up and started wagging his tail, bending down with his chest to the ground and his back end in the air, trying to get him to play. Now it was a game for the dog.  
Every time Dean tried to get up, the big dog knocked him down swinging his butt and hitting his leg. Machelle was laughing so hard tears were falling down her cheeks. She tried to help Dean up, but wasn't doing too well as El Torrito was in the way, knocking him down every time. Of course it didn't help that Machelle and Dean were laughing which made the dog do it even more. It was like El Torrito knew that they all needed a good laugh.  
Roman came out of the patio doors hearing the commotion. When he saw what was happening, he took his phone out from his back pocket and video taped the whole thing, thinking he would show it to Vince, Hunter, Stephanie, and anyone else he could think of to embarrass Dean. It seemed only fair since Dean had laughed at him when the dog had done the same thing to him.  
Roman looked at his watch it was almost time for the Realtor to come. "Guys, it's 9:30 we should get ready for Mr. Sullivan," he called out.  
"Coming!" Machelle and Dean both called out.  
El Torrito, seeing Roman went running towards him hoping to play with him too. Roman saw him coming and closed the patio door "Huh, you are not doing that to me again you little bugger," he said, laughing through the glass.  
Machelle was laughing as she walked into the house. When Dean came through, mere seconds later, he accused roman of being chicken, asking if he was scared of a "li'l old dog?" Roman's response was to glare at Dean. When Dean responded by giving Roman the one-finger salute, Roman retaliated by throwing a bag of M&M's at him.  
Machelle watched the scene before her, shook her head and went upstairs.  
When she came down, twenty minutes later, Machelle went into the pantry and started taking out items and putting them on the kitchen counter. By the time Dean came into the kitchen, she had the flour, baking powder and some vegetable oil out. "What are you doing?" Dean asked, watching her curiously.  
"Getting ready for your next cooking lesson," she said, "or do you think we should wait until after Mr. Sullivan leaves?"  
"Nope." He grabbed an apron from the pantry. When Roman came into the kitchen, he tossed one to him, too.  
"What are we going to make?" Roman asked, as he and Dean put their aprons on.  
"Pancakes," she said, "They're my favourite." She gave the boys explicit instructions, but allowed them to do all the work and soon they were sitting down to a nice, pancake breakfast.  
When breakfast was over, the three set about cleaning up the kitchen. Just as the last dish was loaded in the dishwasher and counters wiped down, the doorbell rang. Machelle went to the door and opened it. It was Mr. Sullivan, the real estate agent, and a younger man George who was going to take photos of the house. After asking Tom what pictures he wanted, George was off With Roman following him. Machelle led Tom to the kitchen to talk. Tom told her that he had two agents that had clients that were interested in the house and wanted to see it in three day. At first Machelle was alarmed, thinking she had a lot of work to do and Dean and Roman were not going to be there to help but then calmed herself down and agreed.  
After the Realtor left, Machelle went to the kitchen, Roman right on her heels. He knew something had her upset and wanted to know what it was but, knew as soon as she went to the drawer.  
She grabbed the phone book and looked up a maid service. She called one and made an appointment for Tuesday morning not caring how much it would cost. The lady on the other end wanted to know details like how many rooms she needed cleaned. Machelle told her what she wanted, and the women on the other end said she would send four people.  
Dean came into the house and seeing Machelle on the phone, mouthed to Roman, "What's up?" Roman motioned him outside and filed him in. Dean notified him that he had just gotten a call from Hunter on his cell phone, Hunter wanted to see them later that afternoon.  
They went inside and told Machelle, asking her if she wanted to come, to which she declined saying she was going for a nap. The house was clean on the surface, but Machelle knew it would bug her if there were dust bunnies under one of the beds when the agents and their clients came to look.  
It was now three o'clock and Dean and Roman had to get ready for their meeting. When the guys went to go get ready, Machelle and El Torrito followed the guys upstairs and they went to her room. Before they left they went in to check on her, she was out like a light. Dean again took a picture and they left her room.  
Once at head office Dean and Roman told Hunter and Vince that Machelle was selling the house and moving to Florida. Hunter thought that was a good idea. She needed to move on and start a new life. Vince told Dean and Roman to tell her if she didn't like it at McKeana Inc. that she always had a spot at WWE at the Tampa office. He was feeling very guilty that she had gotten hurt on his watch.  
Hunter told them that Vince had arranged for his private plane to take them to all the shows while Machelle was still healing. He gave them a complete itinerary of where they would be going, what hotels they would be staying at, and other details they would need. After that, they discussed some things about the shows they would be in, what other wrestlers they would be working with and the story lines they would be involved in.  
Their flight didn't leave until nine the next morning and since it was only six pm. when they left headquarters, Roman and Dean decided to pick up a pizza on their way home.  
When they returned, Machelle was in the living room watching 'Murder She Wrote.' Dean brought the pizza into the living room, while Roman gathered up what they would need for the pizza, as well as drinks.  
"We can change the channel if you want," she said looking at the two guys. "I just couldn't find anything worth watching."  
"No, this is good. Besides it just started and I like this show. It's kind of weird how she's is always there to solve a murder every time." Dean observed.  
"Yeah, and she is always helping the cops and even solves it before they do." Roman added.  
"Jamie and I used to watch it all the time. Now it's just a tradition for me to watch when I can't find anything on," Machelle said smiling wistfully at the memories.  
"Then we'll keep the tradition going," Dean declared, grabbing the remote. He went into the DVR menu and set it up to record the show. "Now we can all watch it when Roman and I are not on the road." Looking pleased with himself, Dean stuffed a peice of pizza into his mouth, and leaned back on the couch to relax.  
When the show was over, Dean and Roman asked Machelle if they could talk.  
"Okay, what's up?" Machelle asked after grabbing the converter for the TV and turning it off.  
"We just wanted to let you know, we told Vince and Hunter you were selling and moving to Florida," Dean said.  
"Both of them think it's a great idea," Roman said. "Hunter wanted you to know that if you didn't like it at McKeana Inc. that you always have a job at WWE. Hunter said Vince feels guilty that he didn't keep you safe."  
"Oh my God, No!" Machelle said, shaking her head. "I don't blame him for what happened, not at all! I came here to get Jamie's killer and make things right and I think I did a pretty good job doing that. Yes, I got hurt and I didn't expect that but, shit happens. I think he is being too hard on himself. " She paused, biting her lip, then asked, "What do you think I can do to make it up to him?"  
An evil grin spread over Dean's face. Roman just smiled knowing what he was trying to do.  
"You are such a pervert!" Machelle smacked Dean in the arm.  
"Oww! What? I was going to say come work for WWE!" he protested, laughing. Roman joined in when he saw Machelle was smiling.  
"Some how I don't believe you," Machelle said, "Jamie warned me about your sense of humour, that you have a dirty mind and are proud of it."  
"Hey, it's not like I would say anything bad if I didn't know you. Besides, a dirty mind is horrible thing to waste," he said with a smirk. The three of them laughed as Dean made faces at Machelle and Roman.  
El Torrito got up from his spot and came over to the trio wanting to be apart of the fun. He then got up on the couch and walked in front of every one and tried to sit across each person's lap. They all laughed when he fell off the couch. The trio decided to sit on the floor so he could be part of the group.  
The next morning Machelle got up and made coffee as she was waiting on the guys to get ready to leave. Roman was the first to come into the kitchen.  
"Are you going to be okay while we are gone?" he asked.  
"I will be fine, now that there is no one out there trying to kill me," she said, "I have everything under control. The maid service will be here in the morning to help clean and I'm going to see if the movers can come Tuesday to help pack some of the things I'm taking and move them to the garage."  
"Just don't do too much, you don't need to hurt you shoulder and worse than it is. Dean and I can help when we get back, you know." Roman said.  
"That's why I'm hiring people to do it for me. The name is Tucker not Sucker," she said smiling, "besides, you guys will be tired when you get back."  
"We'll have a whole week to recuperate, so don't worry about me. Roman, on the other hand, needs his sleep or he's a Grumpy Bear," Dean said as he came into the kitchen and grabbed the coffee Machelle had poured for him.  
"I'm never grumpy, Dean," Roman argued, "Except maybe that one time you and Jamie kept me up all night with the screaming and fighting over that dam video game! I had a pretty good reason to be in a bad mood."  
"Okay, if you call throwing an air conditioner at our heads, you not being a grumpy bear then what is?" Dean asked, knowing he was getting on the big mans nerves. He winked to Machelle when Roman wasn't looking.  
"It wasn't a freaking air conditioner. It was my pillow. If Jamie and I had did it to you. You would have been in a bad mood to." Roman said trying to make his point clear on what had happened. "I bet Machelle would have killed you two guys too, Right?" he asked, looking at Machelle.  
"I don't think you would be alive right now if I was there." Machelle said laughing at the differences in the story between the two men, "I like my sleep too much."  
Dean was going to say something when they heard a car pull up. Dean went to look out the front window. Seeing it was Jack the driver and Hunter. He went to the door and opened it and stepped outside. "What are you doing here Hunter?" Dean asked.  
"Well, I figured Machelle would need help while you two are gone, so I recruited some help. Jack was going this way to get to the airport when I hitched a ride as he was going this way anyway." Hunter said.  
Dean looked around confused seeing no other people with him. Before he could say anything, Hunter laughed. "Stephanie, Linda, and others from the office will be here in an hour, smarty pants."  
"I didn't say a word, Boss," Dean said sarcastically.  
"You didn't have to, it was the look on your face that gave it away," Hunter said, laughing. "Jack will take you guys to the airport. He was going by here anyway so I hitched a ride."  
Dean opened the door and led Hunter and Jack into the house and to the kitchen.  
Hunter gave Machelle a hug. "I hope you have more coffee, Machelle."  
"Of course I do, if not I can make more," Machelle said. She got two cups out of the cupboard and poured the two men some coffee.  
"We heard you needed help packing so I got some people coming to help," Hunter explained. "Stephanie, Linda, and about twenty other people will be coming, so I'd suggest you make another pot of coffee."  
"Thank you, but you didn't have to!" Machelle protested. "I have it all under control."  
"I know the guys told me but, this is what friends are for. Besides it's not like you can do a lot of packing or moving." He said motioning to her shoulder.  
Machelle smiled and nodded. "Okay, I hear you."  
When they were done their coffee Dean and Roman got their things together. Jack grabbed their bags and took them to the car. Dean and Roman said their good byes and hugged Machelle knowing she was in good hands. Machelle and Hunter waved to them as they drove off.  
They walked back to the kitchen. As they were waiting on the others to show up Machelle made more coffee while Hunter sat down on the stool.  
"So, are you going to keep some things or sell them?" Hunter asked, trying to figure out the plan of attack before the others got there.  
"I'm going to donate some of the bedroom furniture. Dean and Roman said the other house is furnished, so I don't think I'm taking a lot from here. I would like to see if Mr. Horton would like the couch, lazy boy chair, maybe even one of the beds and a dresser," Machelle said. "I mean, he did help Jamie with El Torrito. He's a very nice man."  
Hunter nodded then got up and poured himself another coffee. Machelle grabbed a pen and paper to write down some of the things she wanted to do. When Hunter was finished getting his coffee he took over the pen and paper from Machelle, seeing she was having trouble holding and writing at the same time.  
"I am waiting for a call from the youth centre," Machelle said, "Dean, Roman and I went there the other day to ask them if they knew of anyone that needed furniture or clothes. I am donating the gym equipment to them but, Dean and Roman said they wanted to help there. So, I guess for the packing part we should start upstairs then make our way down. Except for the bedrooms Dean, Roman, and I are using. They are on the left side as you head up the stairs."  
"Okay, now at least we have a plan of attack," Hunter said, looking pleased. The sentence was barely out of his mouth when they both heard a car coming into the driveway. "I think the help is here."  
Hunter got off the stool and walked to the front door. Opening it, he saw some of the guys that worked at the office standing on the stoop holding boxes. Hunter told them to put the boxes up stairs on the right and then come to the kitchen for coffee. Machelle decided to use this time to go next door and talk to Mr. Horton.  
Five minutes later Machelle returned with Mr. Horton right behind her. She led him up stairs and into the three rooms and let him pick. He had said "Yes" to the bed and dresser as his were old and falling apart. Then they went to the living room. Mr. Horton said he would take the couch and chair. Machelle insisted he take the 60' TV from the Media room as well, and a smaller one for his bedroom. They went into the kitchen where she offered him a coffee.  
After his coffee, some of the guys Hunter had recruited went over with Mr. Horton to take his old furniture out to make room for the new ones. They put the old ones in the driveway to take to the dump later. As they were finishing taking his bed and dresser out, one of the guys vacuumed the floor and another two put the new things in. They did that until Mr. Horton had all the new things Machelle had given him. He was a very happy man. He wanted her to take some money for the new things but, Machelle told him it was in trade for helping her with El Torrito and all the times he looked after him. He insisted on helping to pack after that.  
Machelle wouldn't have it but, he insisted. So she got him packing the kitchen.  
Then the other guys went upstairs to put the other things in a u haul truck. Machelle said that if they wanted or needed anything to pick what they wanted.  
Hunter taking it upon himself ordered Pizza for lunch for all of them. Machelle insisted she would pay and when the pizza came she ran out to try and pay before Hunter did. They had a friendly argument and when Hunter went to take the pizza in the house Machelle paid the man, sticking her tongue out at Hunter.  
By the time Stephanie and her mom Linda showed up, the guys had almost finished packing the upstairs and were going outside to deal with the pool house. El Torrito had better ideas, as he knew these guys and decided that it was play time instead.  
Hunter was the first one to go down. He slipped on the wet grass and fell to the ground as they played soccer, El Torrito's favourite sport. The other guys tried to help him up, but the dog kept knocking him down, taking the others down with him, same as he had done with Dean and Roman.  
Linda, Stephanie, Mr. Horton and Machelle were laughing hysterically, while Stephanie filmed the scene on her phone. She was going to send it to Dean and Roman.  
Vince came over to see if they were doing okay, when he heard the laughter and came outside. Linda went over to him telling him that they were almost finished and to fill him in on what had been done through the day. Even Vince had to laugh at the sight in front of him, as the dog was bounding around the yard with a ball in his mouth, all the men chasing after him.  
After the fun, the men got back to work on the pool house. The nurse arrived and Machelle had her bandages changed and her injuries attended.  
Linda and Stephanie went in after she was changed. Linda was in tears as she walked in and saw the huge bruise on her back and forearm. Machelle trying to console her, saying that it looked worse than it really was.  
After Linda got herself back together and the three went down stairs again.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The gym equipment was to go to the youth centre. Machelle knew that Dean and Roman wanted to set things up, but there was more than enough guys there to help, so Machelle texted Roman to see if it was okay for them to just drop it off at the centre. Roman texted minutes later, saying it was okay. That they would go on Thursday to set it up.  
The manager of the youth centre, Matthew, came over and dropped off a big truck so that the guys could fill it up with the furniture that Machelle was donating. Machelle suggested they have a yard sale with the stuff left over, and the proceeds could go to the youth centre.  
Machelle insisted that she feed the crew that helped so Stephanie, Linda, and her drove down to the grocery store and grabbed some hamburger patties, buns, and some things for salad.  
Vince volunteered to turn the BBQ on when they got back and decided he was in charge of flipping burgers.  
Stephanie took a picture of the group of people. El Torrito wanted in the picture so he plopped down in front of Vince who patted him on the head.  
Machelle started thinking maybe working with the WWE would be a good thing. She was still on the fence with both jobs. She knew that McKeana Inc. was being run by a capable person so if she did decide to go to WWE it wouldn't matter.  
After everyone left a few hours later Machelle was so tired she locked the door turned off the lights and her and El Torrito went up stairs to bed.  
It wasn't a good night as Machelle tossed and turned all night from having bad dreams. She only got two hours if that.  
The next morning she came down stairs went into the kitchen and made coffee hoping that it would help her stay awake for the rest of the day. It was then that she realized that maybe she was having these dreams because she wasn't taking her meds as much. It was a good thing that the pain was lessening, but she was worried that the lack of pain medication might be causing her nightmares.  
She tried to make breakfast but, got discouraged when egg shells went into the bowl with the eggs so she made French toast instead. That way, if there were egg shells still in it, it wouldn't matter because the shells were at the bottom of the bowl.  
The cleaning ladies she hired came right at 9:30. There were four ladies that came because of the size of the house.  
While the four ladies cleaned, Machelle was baking cookies and asked one of the ladies to help her with the cracking of the eggs. When the cleaning woman saw her injured arm, she was happy to help. In return, Machelle invited all the cleaners to take a coffee break, complete with fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies.  
Even with the unscheduled break, it only took three hours to clean the house. After the cleaning ladies left Machelle was getting tired so she went to the living room and turned on the TV to relax.  
Just as she sat down on the couch the phone rang. It was Stephanie, seeing how she was doing. She said that Machelle sounded tired and should go have a nap once they were done talking. Machelle told her that she was having trouble sleeping at night when no one was in the house. Stephanie suggested maybe she go and talk to someone to help her. After all she did have a life threatening experience. Machelle agreed and said she would when she got to Florida.  
Machelle asked if Stephanie would write up a poster for a BBQ Machelle wanted to have for the staff that had helped her to pack and kind of a good bye get together. Since Machelle couldn't drive with her arm to drop off an invite herself, Stephanie agreed to make a sign to put up in the office. She took down the details and said she would write it up ASAP.  
They chatted about what she should have at the BBQ, and Stephanie suggested it could be pot luck, where Machelle had the main dish and other people bring the side dishes. Machelle thought this was a good idea. After their conversation was over, she hung up.  
She had just hung up the phone when Tom had called saying that there were two couples interested in the property. It turned into a bidding war and in the end Machelle had sold the house for a little more than the asking price.  
After she hung up with Tom she then went back to the couch and got comfortable. She felt very good that the house was packed and it was almost time for her to start over. She started to watch Fast and Furious 6 even though she had seen it many times.  
Machelle didn't realize she had fallen asleep on the couch when she was woken up by El Torrito wanting to go outside.  
She knew Dean and Roman were scheduled to come back soon so she went upstairs to get her housecoat and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes and the guys would surely notice she hadn't slept since they left. She put the kettle on and made some tea then used the tea bag to put on her eyes thinking maybe it would help the circles.  
It was about 15 minutes later when Machelle could hear their car pull up. Then the garage door opened and closed.  
"Holy crap, they were really busy," Dean said.  
"Hunter did say there was something like 20 people coming. Were you not listening again, when he told us last night?" Roman asked.  
"Well kind of," Dean said smiling." I was busy listening to Nick bitch about his match."  
"Figures, I knew you wouldn't care about that stuff," Roman replied. As he opened the door that was in the garage and they walked in to the house going into the kitchen.  
"Yeah, Yeah, I figured if it was import-". He started but stopped as he looked at Machelle, who was sitting at the kitchen island.  
"What's wrong with you?" Dean asked, look alarmed, "Are you sick?"  
"I'm fine. I'm just tired. You saw what was in the garage. We worked our asses off." Machelle said, sounding only slightly defensive.  
"Yes, I know, but you look like you haven't slept in days," Dean said.  
Just as he finished Roman smacked him upside the head. "No wonder you are single Dean, you never say that to a woman with out getting your ass handed to you on a platter!" Roman said as he handed Machelle a bag from a fast food place with an extra cheese burger they had gotten just in case she was up.  
"Yeah, Dean, listen to Roman," Machelle said, only partially joking, "If I wasn't so tired, and my arm wasn't in a cast, I would kick your ass." She opened the burger and took a bite, then went to the fridge and grabbed the ketchup.  
When getting the bottle to work with one arm proved to be difficult for her, Dean came over, "Here," he said, surprisingly gentle, "Let me help." He took the bottle and squirted some on the wrapper for her.  
"Thank you," Machelle said.  
"Welcome, squirt." Dean smirked then became serious. "So why haven't you slept?"  
"I have been having bad dreams of what happened the last time I was alone. It was like I was reliving the whole scene again. I know it's crazy and I don't know why." Machelle said tears in eyes. "I talked to Stephanie today. I promised that I would go to get some help with it."  
"It was a traumatic experience Machelle. Trust me it's a normal thing," Roman said, looking at Dean.  
"Maybe that will help," Dean said. "I also think that because you were on pain killers, that might have something to do with it too. I mean, the pills made you sleepy and you didn't have the bad dreams maybe 'cause the pills took over?"  
"Maybe. I'm not usually a weak person and cry at the drop of a hat," she said as tears were running down her cheeks.  
"I don't think you are weak. I think it's because you haven't slept," Roman assured her.  
"So, get your ass up stairs and get to bed!" Dean ordered her, laughing.  
Machelle couldn't help but smile at his attempt to cheer her up.  
They both hugged her at the same time, telling her it would be all right and that both of them would help her through this.  
After they let her go, Dean checked the doors and let El Torrito in while Roman turned out the lights and they both helped her up the stairs to her room.  
They quickly changed their clothes and went into Machelle's room.  
Seeing that she had a king size bed they climbed in. Dean on her left side and Roman on the right and El Torrito was lying on the floor on Dean's side.  
The plan was to stay until Machelle fell asleep but, that didn't happen as they were tired and fell asleep watching Dog, The Bounty Hunter on the TV.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next morning Machelle tried to turn over, but couldn't. Dean was snuggled up to her back and she was almost on Roman's chest, snuggled in to him. She looked over at the clock that was beside Roman on the nightstand it was eight o'clock.  
Once El Torrito heard someone stir he jumped up on the bed stepping on Dean's legs on the way up the bed. He went over to Dean and gave him a kiss up the side of his face, then did the same for Machelle and Roman. Once everyone was awake he laid over all their bodies, feeling very proud of himself for waking them.  
After they all petted him and played with him for a bit, they all got out of bed. Dean and Roman went to their rooms to change and Machelle went down stairs. She made coffee and then let El Torrito outside.  
When the coffee was finished she grabbed the cups. Just as she was going to pour, the guys came down. Handing them their coffee, Machelle sat on one of the stools.  
"I never got a chance to tell you guys last night, but guess what happened?" she took a sip of her coffee before telling them anyway, "The house is sold."  
"What? That was fast," Roman said, looking between Machelle and Dean.  
"Tom called last night and told me that there were two people interested in the house. There was a bidding war and well, I couldn't refuse." Machelle said  
"Awesome," Dean said.  
"So, I was thinking of having a going away slash thank you, BBQ for the guys that helped. Maybe invite the neighbours, they all knew Jamie. I know Jamie liked them all," Machelle said then added, "I asked Stephanie, to put up a sign at head office."  
"So, when is the Party? I mean, how many days do we have to plan it?" Dean asked  
"I planned on Saturday. It's pot luck, so I was thinking of renting a bouncy castle for the kids, burgers, and hot dogs, maybe chicken or a salmon-". Machelle started rambling but, was interrupted by Roman.  
"Okay. Okay, slow down. First, let's write all this down, then we can figure out what we need," Roman said.  
"It makes sense, Machelle," Dean said when Machelle shook her head.  
"Okay, fine," Machelle said rolling eyes.  
They sat at the kitchen island for an hour planning things. They looked in the phone book to rent the bouncy castle. Then they decided they should go to Costco to get the other things they would need like chips, Hamburgers, hot dogs and buns for both.  
After about an hour of walking around Costco, filling their cart with what they needed, Dean started to get bored and began acting like a child, saying "Can we go now? I'm hungry!" in a whining child's voice. Machelle and Roman just rolled their eyes at him while others in the meat department started to laugh.  
When they were standing in line, waiting to pay, Dean took off and came back with boxes of chocolate bars marshmallows, graham crackers and furry stuffed animals. "Dad can we get this?" He asked Roman, in that same childish tone, "I love chocolate and look at this bunny, isn't he soooo cute?" That was the last straw for Roman, he took him out of the store while people in the line laughed at Dean who was pretending to have a temper tantrum on the way out. Machelle just rolled her eyes and smiled.  
When Machelle came out of the store, she started laughing when she saw Roman and Dean by the car, Roman looking as if he were giving Dean a stern talking to, while Dean still played the part of the naughty child. When the car was loaded, they decided to go out and get something to eat, just to make Dean happy. He perked right up after that.  
When they got home they all helped bring the groceries in and helped Machelle put them away.  
Dean and Roman wanted to go to the gym down the street, since the gym equipment was down at the youth centre. Dean asked Machelle to come but, then remembered she wouldn't be able to do much working out.  
Roman rolled his eyes and gave Dean a smack on his head, which really did nothing more than ruffle his hair. Considering how bratty Dean had been at the store, Machelle couldn't help but laugh at this. Dean shook his head, but accepted Roman's "slap" realizing himself that asking Machelle to the gym really wasn't one of his brightest moves.  
Machelle assured them that she would be fine and said she was going to take El Torrito for a walk and maybe ask Mr. Horton if he wanted to join them. The guys got into the car as Machelle went over to the neighbours.  
Mr Horton agreed to the walk and as they were walking Machelle told him about the BBQ. He thought it was a great idea to invite the neighbours as Jamie was always helping them. Even if it was mowing their lawn or helping them by bringing their garbage cans in for them after the garbage truck came. As most of the people were older, Jamie just wanted to help.  
On the way home from the park Machelle and Mr Horton were stopped by some of the neighbours. They had all seen the sign in front of the house and wanted to know what was going on. After Machelle explained, she told them about the BBQ. All of them said that they would bring something and pass along the message to others in the neighbourhood.  
When Machelle got home, Dean and Roman were back and had brought home dinner. As they sat and ate Sushi in the kitchen, she told them about inviting the neighbours. It seemed that this party was going to be a big hit.  
For the rest of the night they watched TV. Dean talked through all the shows. Roman knew it was a reflex that Dean had when he was trying not to fall asleep and that he didn't mean anything by it. He explained this to Machelle when Dean went to the kitchen for another bottle of water.  
Dean had fallen asleep on the couch about an hour into NCIS. Machelle wanted to get back at him for being a brat in Costco, so she looked at Roman with an evil smile on her face. He smiled in return knowing that she was going to do something mischievous to Dean.  
She went up stairs and came back down with a bag. She pulled out some blue eye shadow and put it on Dean's eye lids and drew hearts on his face with red lipstick. Then she took out some shaving cream from the bag and put it in his hand. She grabbed a feather from a display Jamie had on the fireplace mantle.  
"You do know he is going to get you for this right?" Roman said.  
"That's what you're here for to protect me if it gets to bad." Machelle said. Roman just nodded his head.  
She then took the feather and tickled Dean's nose with it. Roman watched all this trying not to make to much noise. After a minute Dean went to smack it away and SMACK he had shaving cream all over his face.  
Dean went to chase Machelle but, El Torrito got in the way and Dean stepped on his foot. Dean, feeling bad, went to console the big dog and see if he was okay. The dog had went behind Roman to get away. Machelle grabbed the can of Shaving cream and ran outside as to not make a mess in the house. Dean went to go out the patio doors when Machelle got him again with the shaving cream. Roman came outside to see what Dean would do.  
Mr Horton heard the screaming and barking from El Torrito coming from next door, and went out on to his back deck and started laughing at the whole scene.  
Dean went to grab her but, she ducked behind Roman. When Dean went to hug Roman, Roman side stepped him leaving Machelle exposed for Dean to grab her getting the shaving cream all over her back and in her hair.  
"Why didn't you save me Roman?" Machelle asked.  
"He's smart, he knows I'd kick his ass," Dean answered for Roman.  
Roman was about to say something when Machelle got him with the rest of the can of shaving cream. Roman chased her around the yard. Dean was right behind him. They finally caught her when she was trying to get into the pool house that just happened to be locked. Then they both hugged her being careful of her arm making a Machelle sandwich getting shaving cream all over her this time.  
They all laughed. Dean was rolling on the ground, El Torrito felt left out so he went and plopped down on Dean's chest and wouldn't let him up until Machelle grabbed his collar.  
They all apologized to Mr. Horton for disturbing him. He just laughed and said it was okay he needed a laugh.  
Then they went inside and cleaned up. Returning to Machelle's room to help her clean up, after they went over to the bed and watched the rest of NCIS and fell asleep again in her bed.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The next morning the guys were the first ones up and made coffee. They were sitting in the kitchen looking over the list they had made to see what they all had to do next. Machelle got up an hour later. Roman passed her a coffee as she sat down next to Dean.  
"So, we were just looking over the list we did yesterday and we need to get some extra chairs and tables," Dean said  
"We also need to call the movers and see if they can come on Monday. We can get a hotel room for you and El Torrito since you have a Doctors appointment on Wednesday. I know we don't have to be out for another month, but, if we go now you can get the help with the nightmares before we have to go back on the road full time," Roman said.  
"Okay, sounds good to me," Machelle said.  
Dean grabbed the piece of paper they had with the info on for the movers. When Machelle called, the guy she talked to said he was just going to call her. He had over booked for Friday and wanted to ask if it was possible to change to another day, so Monday was good for him.  
Machelle went in search for a party store in the phone book. There was one close to them, so they hopped into the car and went to the store to get what they needed. Once there, they not only got the tables and chairs, but the same store had bouncy castles for rent. They agreed to deliver everything early Saturday.  
On the way back home they went to the youth centre and Roman and Dean set up the equipment for them. The teens were so excited to see them. The guys signed autographs for them and took pictures with them. Machelle even took a group picture and planned on getting it blown up so the centre could put it on display.  
Two days later it was the morning of the BBQ. The tables and chairs were delivered and the castle was up and ready for the kids. Stephanie and some of the neighbours had come early and helped get the food ready.  
While Hunter, Shane, Dean and Roman got the tables and chairs set up where they thought they should go. Now all they had to do was wait for everyone else to get there.  
A few hours later the neighbours and people from the office started to arrive and the party began.  
The kids loved the bouncy castle and played in it until it was time to eat. El Torrito had to go in the house because he wanted to be in the castle with the kids.  
When it was time to get the BBQ started Vince again volunteered to man the grill.  
While they ate, the neighbours sat at the tables and told stories about how they had met Jamie. Mr. Horton said he met Jamie six years ago, when his wife had fallen on the ice in their driveway taking the garbage out. Jamie saw what had happened and took her to the hospital and stayed with her while they put a cast on her arm. He drove her home and even stayed with her until Mr. Horton had gotten home. He also had shovelled and salted the driveway before he left as they didn't have anyone else close by to help out. Jamie had even brought over a bottle of good Scotch when Mr. Horton's wife had died, not to promote drinking but as a good gesture. He sometimes even would put flowers on her grave.  
Mrs Johnson down the way said she had a similar meeting with Jamie. Her husband tried to clean the gutters himself and Jamie saw him almost fall off the ladder. Jamie ran over helped him down off the ladder and cleaned the gutters for them. He even cleaned the mess afterwards. He also cut their grass when her husband was sick with the flu.  
There were a lot of really good stories that the neighbours told about Jamie helping out his neighbours. Machelle was glad she had invited them all over.  
Some of the kids in the neighbourhood told stories of Jamie setting up hockey nets in the middle of the road and played soccer and hockey with them, or put the sprinkler on in his or any yard and played on a slip and side in the summer.  
The kids had challenged Dean to a game of soccer with El Torrito on their team. The kids knew that the dog was good and they would win but, didn't tell Dean how good he actually was.  
Thinking that he could win, Dean accepted the challenge. He had Roman, Hunter, Shane and some of the others on his team. Vince volunteered to be the referee. The kids won in the end. The others laughed as El Torrito grabbed the ball from Dean, giving one of the kids a chance to run down by his goal. Then the dog would let the ball down by the goal and one of the kids would kick the ball between the two pillows that was the goal.  
Dean said they cheated but, in the end said it was fine and the next game they played El Torrito was on his team. Dean thought this was a sure win, but El Torrito had different ideas. Instead of helping Dean's team, he helped the kids win again. Dean pretended to be mad at him but, couldn't stay that way as the big dog came over and knocked him down with his butt and sat on his chest, kissing him. Once the dog got off him, the kids did a dog pile on him and everyone laughed. Stephanie took pictures and video of the whole scene.  
After they finished playing soccer Machelle and some of the neighbours brought dessert out. There was cake, brownies, and other desserts that people had brought.  
It was starting to get dark when Dean suggested they use the outdoor fire pit and do s'mores with the kids using the stuff he put in the cart at Costco. He went and got some sticks for the kids and Machelle got the chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers out on a tray and Roman brought them out to Dean.  
Dean helped the kids get their marshmallows nice and golden then once the kids put them together he would steal them and shove them in his mouth. The result would get Dean another dog pile and the kids laughing.  
Some of the neighbours helped clean up wrapping leftovers Machelle insisted they take as they only had a day left in the house and had a fridge full of things already.  
Some of the people that had kids were leaving and thanked Machelle for her hospitality and wished her luck.  
It was only Mr. Horton, Stephanie, Hunter and their kids and Vince and Linda left. They sat down outside drinking coffee and talked.  
"So have you thought about what you are doing when you get to Florida?" Vince said.  
"I have been thinking about it a bit but, haven't really decided yet. There are things I need to work on before I decide," Machelle told him, then added, "You will be the first to know when I do."  
Vince was about to ask what the issues were but, Linda elbowed him and he got the message that she didn't want to talk about them.  
They all decided to go when Hunter's youngest fell asleep with El Torrito on his doggie bed. El Torrito had one paw on her stomach and it looked like he was kind of hugging her and her head was on the other paw. It was a very cute sight and Stephanie took the opportunity to snap a picture with her cell phone.  
Hunter picked her up and brought her to the car with some resistance from the big dog. The other two girls gave the dog hugs and followed behind their dad. Stephanie and Linda went in front of them to grab the doors.  
They said their goodbyes as Mr. Horton went home and Hunter and the others got in their cars and left.  
Dean, Roman and Machelle waved as they drove off. The trio walked inside, Dean and Roman checked all the doors and Machelle went in to the kitchen to get coffee ready for the morning once she was done they went upstairs and went to bed.  
Sunday was the day to finish up the last minute things. The guys got their gear ready and packed up all their clothes they had there.  
Mathew from the youth centre came with some teens to pick up the furniture that was in the rooms Dean and Roman had been using for the yard sale. Roman and Dean helped get the two rooms emptied and loaded onto their truck.  
Machelle had decided that she would take her bed with her, which was good, because if she hadn't, they would have only had one sofa in the living room to sleep on.  
For the rest of the day they cleaned the fridge, swept the floors, vacuumed the bedrooms and cleaned the bathroom in Machelle's room as the cleaning ladies had done the other ones and then Machelle put ribbon across them so no one would use them. Except for the one that Dean and Roman used, she thought if they needed to use another one then they could use Machelle's.  
Dean had called a hotel to reserve a room for Machelle and El Torrito for three days. After her Doctors appointment on Wednesday, Dean and Roman would pick her up at the doctor's office, and then they would go towards the next Raw. Roman had their destinations all planned out on a map, they were going to be on the road full time for three weeks with Machelle tagging along.  
They would be going from Hartford to Cleveland for the next show on Monday; thankfully that would be the longest drive at nine hours. Then to Cincinnati, Virginia Beach, Charlotte NC, Atlanta and finally to Tampa.  
Vince said that they didn't have to go to California, as that was the next show after Tampa and could help Machelle settle in for two weeks. Then they would go to Raw and Smackdown and do house shows part time until Machelle was healed and could drive.  
The next day Dean got up put the coffee on while Roman got ready in Machelle's bathroom. Then went upstairs and got ready him self.  
They had their coffee together and then it was time for Jack to pick them up. Dean had asked Machelle if she was okay to drive to the hotel as she wasn't supposed to drive. It was only a 10 minute drive to the hotel. Machelle said it would be okay. It was just to the hotel as everything she needed was close by. The guys made arrangements to call Machelle that night to see how everything went with the movers.  
Machelle waved as they left.  
The movers had cleaned out the garage, and loaded Machelle's bed and dresser, the couch, and the TV from the living room into the truck. As Mr. Horton got the one in the Media room. It took just about two hours.  
Mr. Horton came over while the movers were there to say good bye to Machelle and El Torrito. Machelle said they weren't leaving until Wednesday and they made plans for lunch and a walk the next day.  
When the movers left Machelle did one final walk around and remembering all the fun she had in that house. Then got in her car with El Torrito in the back and drove to the hotel. She couldn't drive very far as she found that the staples felt like they were tearing out.  
She left El Torrito in the car for five minutes, while she walked in to the hotel, checked in, and went and dropped her suitcase off in the room. When she was done, she went out to the car and got El Torrito. Since the Real Estate office was within walking distance, she decided to take care of two things at once and take El Torrito for a walk and drop off all the keys to Jamie's house.  
Tom Sullivan was surprised to see them, as she still had a month before the official closing date, but, understood that she wanted to move on. He called the new owners agent to see if the buyers wanted to move in early. Their agent said they would talk to the buyers. Machelle agreed to wait and had a bottle of water and chatted with Tom while waiting.  
As it turned out, the buyers had been staying in a hotel, as the lease on their old apartment had run out. They had been thinking of trying to push the closing date up, but were worried Machelle would refuse. They were delighted to find out they could take possession early. After a quick call to the Lawyers office, the closing was moved up to this Wednesday.  
After leaving Tom's office, she decided to take El Torrito to the dog park so she could let him off leash to run. On her way she stopped and grabbed a coffee and sat down on a bench to relax while the big dog played.  
The next afternoon Mr. Horton and Machelle went for lunch and then took El Torrito for a walk. They made plans to go for a walk before her Doctors appointment the next day. He said he would miss El Torrito and Machelle and wished them luck. Machelle was almost in tears when he left her and asked him if he wanted to go to dinner the next night with her, Dean and Roman it would be her treat, and he agreed.  
When Dean and Roman came back that night Machelle told them that she made plans to have dinner with the older man they agreed to stay another night and leave early the next day. They didn't have to be in Cincinnati for the next show for another three days.  
Machelle had found a picture of Jamie and Mr. Horton in Jamie's home office. She went to the photo shop and got a copy of it and a nice frame. She also went to the liquor store, and with Dean's help as Machelle didn't really drink, got him a good bottle of Scotch.  
At her Doctor's appointment, Dr Jackson told Machelle she was healing very fast and she could go to physical therapy as soon as she got to Tampa. She asked if she was able to drive he said it depended on what her therapist said it could take up to three months depending on how her recovery went.  
After they left the doctor they went to the lawyers to pick up the cheque, then to the bank to deposit it into her account.  
They went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner with Mr. Horton. They went and got him and took him to a nice restaurant and they sat outside.  
Machelle gave him the bottle of scotch and the picture she found. He was almost in tears as he looked at the picture. Telling the trio that the picture was just after his wife had died and that was the day Jamie had brought him to the cemetery to make the arrangements for her burial. Then Machelle felt bad that he was feeling sad but, he assured her that he would be fine.  
They talked and laughed until 11 at the restaurant. Then they picked up El Torrito and they drove him home. When Dean let El Torrito out at Mr. Horton's house he went up to him and sat down on Mr. Horton's feet. It was like he knew he wouldn't see the older man for a long time and it was his way on saying good bye.  
The trio gave Mr. Horton a hug and got back in the car Dean drove as Roman kept looking at Machelle in the mirror because Machelle was crying on the way back to the hotel. El Torrito tried to comfort her until the guys could by putting his head in her lap.  
When they got to the hotel Dean went to the front desk and asked for a wake up call for six am.  
While Machelle, El Torrito and Roman went up stairs to the room. Machelle went in to the bathroom to take a shower. When she got out Dean went in.  
Roman hugged her asking "You okay Machelle?"  
"I will be. Sorry it was just I felt bad making him sad. He told me the other day he thought of Jamie as the son he never had then I go and give a picture to remind him he's not around. What kind of person does that make me?" Machelle said.  
"He will be okay. We will stay in touch with him I swear, we will and it means you saw a picture and saw the two happy, it's not like you did it on purpose Machelle." Roman said.  
"I got Mr. Horton's phone number and address I felt the same way and said we would call as soon as we got settled. I also promised to keep in touch. Roman is right you are a good person." Dean said coming out of the bathroom putting his clothes away.  
Dean turned on the TV and looked at the guide to find something to watch. He settled on Blue Bloods as he got settled in the bed next to Machelle. Machelle put her head on Dean's arm. Dean put his arm around her shoulders.  
Just as Roman came out of the bathroom he went into his suitcase putting his clothes in, and then got into the bed next to Machelle. As El Torrito got comfortable on his doggy bed.  
"Don't worry Machelle, it will all work out," Dean said, then added, laughing, "now get off of me this is too mushy for me. Roman is the mushy one."  
Machelle stuck her tongue out at him.  
"Don't stick your tongue out at me unless you intend to use it." Dean laughed.  
"In your dreams buster, beside I do remember you snuggling up to me the other night," Machelle said as she punched Dean in the arm and laughed.  
"That was different, I was sleeping and you don't have proof." Dean said in his defence.  
"Oh but we do," Roman said as he went to grab his cell off the night stand. He showed Dean the picture.  
"That only goes as far as us, you hear me? I have a reputation to keep you know," Dean said, laughing, knowing he was in trouble if the picture got out.  
"Don't worry it will be our little secret." Machelle said looking at Roman who nodded.  
Roman turned the lights off. Then he put his arm around Machelle letting her snuggle into his side. Machelle took Dean's hand and squeezed for a moment.  
Now I can start fresh, she thought, and she was asleep a few minutes later.

To be continued !!!!!


End file.
